In the course of a few months, the number of mass shootings has significantly increased. On Jan. 7, Charlie Hebdo Headquarters was attacked in Paris, and 20 cartoonists were shot dead. A few months later, three islamic students who attended UNC were killed by their neighbor, an islamophobic man. Shortly after, in Copenhagen, jewish policeman Dan Uzan was guarding a synagogue  and was killed by Omar Abdel Hamid El-Hussein, a muslim man. The consecutive shootings are becoming a serious issue around the globe; in fact, in America alone, the rate of mass shooting has tripled since 2011. It is highly likely that the increase in violence is caused by the reemerging tensions between racial and religious groups like ISIS and Black Americans. These mass shootings affect us because it puts our security at risk, and this epidemic needs to be stopped before these massacres spread all over the world.

On Feb. 15, in Copenhagen, Denmark, a police officer was shot and killed by what is believed to be an attack by ISIS. Police say that this assault was triggered by the Paris attacks, where French citizens were held hostage in a local café. What is frightening about this shooting is that it is believed that a previous ISIS terrorist attack in Paris is likely to have stimulated this recent attack, which makes it easy to believe that people are becoming more violent because of the terrorist attacks going on around the world. More recently, three muslim students who attended the University of North Carolina (UNC) were killed over what many people claim to be a dispute over a parking spot, which is highly unlikely since the history between the shooter and the victims proves that the killer was islamophobic.

“I think it was such an unfortunate event that three college students were killed because of their religion … it is very alarming that the number of mass shootings has increased, especially in 2015, since it’s all about equality now,” sophomore Jasmin Valverde said.

Even though there is substantial proof that mass shootings are becoming a major issue that threatens the lives of civilians, some people believe that it is a temporary issue. Not only that; people claim that we should not fear being caught in a mass shooting because it is rare for these occurrences to happen. It is true that we should not live in fear, because that is not living, but it is necessary that we are aware that mass shootings are becoming ubiquitous throughout not only the United States, but the world.  A major factor that may have triggered the rise in shootings is the ignorance surrounding mental illnesses. Regarding the Aurora shooting in Colorado and the Sandy Hook shooting, both perpetrators were mentally ill, one with a history of depression and the other with Schizophrenia, respectively. If our society starts treating mental illness like a physical injury, the prevalence of mass shootings would decrease; additionally, areas with stricter gun laws have been proven to have lower crime rates and gun violence

The rise in mass shootings is alarming and is definitely something to be seriously addressed. Too many innocent people have been killed, and if we impose strict laws on gun ownership, correctly care for mental illnesses, and educate others on hate crimes, maybe the lives of the civilians who died from mass shootings would not have been taken.