On Thursday, October 1, 2015, Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon became the site of another mass shooting. As of Thursday afternoon, the death toll is now 13 with over 20 wounded and the shooter is a 20-year-old man who is dead on school property, Sheriff John Hanlin confirms. It is speculated that at least 4 guns were found at the scene and there were multiple victims in multiple classrooms of the college facilities.

The suspect, remaining unnamed by Oregon officials but confirmed by other US government officials as Chris Harper Mercer, was discovered premeditating his plans on the website 4chan, stating “I’m so insignificant” and then talking about his plan of carrying out a shooting. Other members of the chat show support and even offer him suggestions on how to go about his plan and what types of guns or weapons he should use. Several survivors of the ordeal, including Anastasia Boylan who is receiving treatment for a bullet to the spine, say his motive was to kill Christians. Before he fired, he asked the religions of the people in the room and if they said Christian, they were shot in the head. If any other, they were shot elsewhere

Unfortunately, this is not the first time students and citizens in the small town have suffered from an attack, their last school shooting occurring at Roseburg High School in 2006 where a student shot and injured one other. After this incident, Sheriff Hanlin, leading on this case, called the proposed gun legislation changes of 2008 an “indisputable insult to the American people” and he and his deputies would refuse to enforce them. It seems he’ll soon have to reconsider.

Now, the small college community is banding together and the citizens are saying they will get through this tragedy. But one thing never sits right in the hearts of those who are following the story; why should this rural town ever have to get through this grief in the first place?

The history of mass shootings in America is deep– Columbine, Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook– and the death toll is tripling every year. The FBI defines a mass shooting as an event where four people (including the shooter) die by use of a gun and not all make headlines. Often, there are high profile cases because it affects the upper class. Whiter, richer, and more urban community shootings gain more traction because those privileged enough to live in similar areas are the ones who readily want to consume this information. Additionally, most of the people who commit these high profile mass shootings come from these communities. Privileged white men.

Of course, that isn’t to say that every mass shooting in America has been committed by such. But, it’s hard to say there isn’t discrepancies in the way they are reported.

When Maj-Hidal Hasan committed his Fort Hood massacre, his Islamic faith was met with brimstone and hellfire from the masses, trying to blame his religion for his outburst that killed and injured many in Texas. When Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 in Blacksburg, the Korean community became the target of the media, criticizing the overall apparent unwillingness in the culture to accept mental illness. When a white man commits a mass shooting, only then is it a topic for gun control, not a reflection on their upbringing, socioeconomic class, race, or religion. Regardless of background, they are all reasons to address gun control and the faster, the better.

Do we have time to wait until the 2016 election for new gun control legislation? How immediate is the change needed?  

“If there was ever going to be a change it should’ve happened years ago,” Nikki Khanduri, senior and Step Team Member comments. “It’s almost become part of our culture as Americans to hear about mass shootings every week.” Even worse, she’s not wrong. In fact, she’s being gracious.

In America, we average more than one mass shooting per day. In the 274 days of 2015, there have been 294 mass shootings.

Hatim Malek, junior and Human Relations Commission board member, describes the need for change by saying, “I believe it is our duty to make sure that at all times the country we live in can be as safe as we can possibly make it. For this reason, I find that waiting for the 2016 election would be a mistake when it comes to gun control laws.” Lauren Myman, junior, agrees. “I don’t think we should wait. Immediate change is needed because they shouldve changed gun control laws after the first shooting that happened this year.”

The election is over a year away and many candidates have already released several comments on the issue, addressing it as part of their presidential plan. Bernie Sanders tweeted out to his almost 800,000 followers that, “We need sensible gun control legislation which prevents guns from being used by people who should not have them.” Hillary Clinton added,“We need sensible gun control measures to save lives, and I will do everything I can to achieve that.” Jeb Bush called the incident a “senseless tragedy” while Donald Trump gave his “warmest condolences”, neither addressing the overlooking issue.

The death toll from mass shootings this year has been 380 and those injured during is well into the thousands, not to mention the over 7,000 gun related deaths in the U.S. this year already not including suicide by firearm. More young Americans are dying by guns rather than by car. We are losing more and more people to guns everyday but Khanduri sums up the harsh truth.

According to our government, “Protection of the second amendment is more important than the protection of our citizens.”