SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) – Many students around Central New York have felt increased levels of anxiety following the Michigan State University shooting that claimed three lives last week.
Ari Fienstein, a sophomore at Syracuse University, voiced his concerns stemming from the MSU shooting.
“My best friends go here, I live here, and the thought that something like this could happen to me when I feel as if I’m in a safe spot is really quite frightening,” Feinstein says.
Declan McGlachlin, a sophomore at Onondaga Community College, has similar fears despite attending a smaller institution.
“For a big school like Michigan State, one of the biggest in the country, these things still happen,” McGlachlin says. “There’s still casualties, so of course there’s gonna be a little fear.”
A familiar story
Americans are no strangers to mass shootings, but 2023 has been a new high for gun violence. According to the most recent data from the Gun Violence Archive, there have been over 70 mass shootings so far this year.
Mark Bryant, the executive director of the Archive, said that there had never been more than 67 mass shootings in the first six weeks of a year.
Just last week, four children were shot in Pittsburgh in the nation’s second school shooting in less than three months.
Gun violence and college
MSU was not the first time a college or university fell victim to mass gun violence. In December of 2022, three football players at the University of Virginia were killed in a shooting.
As the overall issue of gun violence has ballooned across the United States, the aforementioned fears of students have only intensified with more of these incidents occurring on different campuses.
All eyes are now on policymakers to see how they address this epidemic of gun violence.
