At least 10 people were killed earlier this week when gunman, Chris Harper Mercer, opened fire at Oregon’s Umpqua Community College. Mercer, 26, was also a student enrolled in the class were he shot his victims. Witnesses say, Mercer targeted victims due to their religious beliefs. Stacy Boylen, mother of a daughter who was wounded, told CNN “[He started] asking people one by one what their religion was. ‘Are you a Christian?’ he would ask them, and if you’re a Christian, stand up. And they would stand up and he said, ‘Good, because you’re a Christian, you are going to see God in just about one second.’ And then he shot and killed them.” The city’s News-Review newspaper reported, one student who was in the class where the shooting occurred said she saw the teacher of her Writing 115 class get shot in the head before the Mercer started asking people to state their religion.
Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin, reported, Mercer was eventually killed in a shootout with police outside one of the classes.
Upon further development, a source reported to CNN that the killer was carrying four guns — three pistols and a rifle.
President Obama, spoke to the nation, regarding his dismay concerning the shootings, which concluded in him expressing a need for greater gun control.
Opinion: Personally, I don’t think having tighter drug laws will cure the problem of mass killings, just like making drugs illegal prevents many kids from overdosing on drugs. I think it will take more than just another law. More security officers should be available on all college campuses at all times. Also, at this point it just seems right to have a metal detectors at every entrance.