St. Petersburg students don’t let the possibility of gun violence prevent them from attending classes and participating in campus activities.
Photo courtesy of Makenna Wozniak | The Crow’s Nest
By Julia Birdsall
School shootings have become a common topic in American households within the past few decades.
These conversations have only increased in frequency and urgency, especially in the past decade, as school shootings have gone from a yearly to a monthly occurrence.
“I definitely feel every day that there’s a continually rising threat of gun violence on campuses and it’s very scary,” said Tyler Williams, a junior political science major and the president of USF St. Petersburg’s College Democrats.
A recent influx of on-campus gun violence in Florida, such as the shooting at Florida State University in April and a swatting incident at USF Tampa in August, has made the threat feel closer to home than ever.
“Being in Florida, it is definitely scarier because we are very pro-gun, and so I do fear for being on campus,” said Juniper Miller, a senior criminology major.
On Sept. 25, open carry became a legal right in Florida. Citizens will now be able to visibly have guns on their person.
Despite this, not all students are afraid.
Estella Najera, a senior sustainability studies major, told The Crow’s Nest that she does not always worry about facing gun violence while attending classes on the St. Petersburg campus, but does get nervous when threats become prominent news.
A junior who chose to remain anonymous agreed with Najera’s sentiment.
“I don’t walk in fear,” she said, “but [gun violence] is definitely something we should take into consideration and be vigilant [of] all the time.”
Debates have sparked about the cause behind gun violence. For years, researchers have attempted to find a mental, emotional, or social cause. Their conclusions vary widely, from video games to political polarization.
An anonymous senior felt that the latter cause is behind the recent uptick in on-campus gun violence.
This comes after the politically motivated and fatal shooting of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University. However, the senior stated that he chooses not to be afraid because there is nothing that he can do to prevent gun violence from occurring.
“It seems to be so common and so prevailing that it wouldn’t surprise me whether it did or didn’t happen,” he said. “Of course, I’d prefer it didn’t happen.”
As for how the university could help make him feel safer, the senior stated that he’d like to see more practices to prepare students for the event that there is an active shooter on campus, as well as a more thorough release of information when there is a potential threat.
Other students shared his concerns when, during the swatting incident on the Tampa campus, the university did not release an alert about the situation until nearly an hour and a half after it was initially reported.
USF has created a list of possible actions to take in the event that there is an active shooter on campus. However, as the university wrote, “There is no one procedure that can be recommended in this situation.”
Students feel that the government has much more power than the university does to ensure that they feel safe on their campus.
“It feels like it’s only gonna get worse until actual change happens,” said Izabella Annunziata, a senior political science major and public health minor and vice president of USF St. Petersburg’s College Democrats.
Nearly every student interviewed agreed that there needs to be stricter and smarter gun laws implemented within the state and the country. More background checks, extended red flag laws and mandated secure gun storage are some examples that students gave.
“We’ve seen time and time again how kids get access to their parents’ guns, and they use them recklessly to take lives,” Miller said. “I think that is a huge problem, especially in the South here, so I would love to see that kind of reform.”
Students have the power to influence change with both the university and the government. They can use this power by staying educated and getting involved with politicians and organizations that support the reforms they want to see, Williams told The Crow’s Nest.
“[Gun violence] is something that we need to tackle, and need to tackle soon,” Williams said, “before another terrible tragedy occurs and people lose their lives because we’re irresponsible with how we regulate guns.”
