By Aidan Fox ’16, News Staff Writer

In just a few years, America has witnessed several mass shootings that have terrified the nation and brought gun control laws to the forefront of debate. Last month, New Jersey citizens came face-to-face with the terrors of gun violence in a place they previously felt safe: the Short Hills Mall.

On Sunday, December 16, Dustin Friedland and his wife, Jamie, had finished an evening of Christmas shopping and were getting back into their car. As Mr. Friedland closed the passenger side door for his wife, the defenseless 30-year-old lawyer was jumped by two carjackers, who shot him four times while his wife watched the altercation. Mr. Friedland died in the hospital several hours later. The incident has certainly left a mark on many shoppers. “[The shooting] shattered my perception that my town and the places I go are protected by a bubble,” stated Courtney Cooperman ’14, “…it has definitely made me feel more cautious and anxious while I walk through the parking lot.” Paige Cooper ‘16 said that the shooting “made me think about what could happen in more upscale places…I definitely feel more cautious now and try to avoid parking garages. Valet parking has totally been on my mind and if I need to park in a garage, I park close to entrances of the mall.” The incident came about a month and a half after a man dramatically entered Paramus’ Garden State Plaza Mall and fired into the ceiling before killing himself.

The several mass shootings in the United States over the past two years have raised the debate on gun control to a new volume. This is largely because mass shootings, like the ones in Newtown and Washington Navy Yard, were carried out with legally obtained weapons. As a result, some have called for a ban on all assault rifles, especially the AR-15, which has become something of a posterboy for gun control. Ruby Gould ’15 took it a step further by saying, “In an ideal America, we could be like New Zealand, and ban all guns of all kinds completely. However, unfortunately for us […], our founding fathers found it relevant to include the Second Amendment in our Constitution, which, at the time, was completely appropriate. Had they known the difficulty it would cause our country in the future, I doubt they would have included it.” The aforementioned Second Amendment has been one of the most significant points of defense for those against outlawing assault rifles. Zach Persing ’15, who believes assault rifles are essential for self-defense, stated, “The Second Amendment provides people with the right to use [all guns, including assault rifles].”

Teddy Steffens ’14 believes that the Second Amendment is indeed still relevant, saying, “It was put in place so that the American people could protect themselves from a tyrannical government…When I explain this to people, the usual response is, ‘That will never be a problem in the US,’ or, ‘Our government would never let that happen.’ The bottom line is, though it may seem outlandish, it could happen and the peoples’ right to bear arms must be protected if such events do come to pass.”

Many citizens have pointed out the fact that there are ways to curb shootings without bans. The most commonly proposed solution has been a call for more thorough background checks, but opponents of the idea believe that checks are already sufficiently intensive. Persing believes that the U.S. government could go about lowering the number of gun deaths “by making sure that the people who have guns are sane, law-abiding citizens, not criminals or people with mental challenges.” A sentiment often voiced by conservatives in the National Rifle Association, such as Chief Wayne LaPierre, is that “the only way to prevent a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.”

“I do not think people understand how many lives are saved by concealed weapon holders such as off-duty and retired police officers,” said Mike Gibbons ’14. “I would like to reference an account in Arizona where a man showed up at a dinner party with a rifle, and a guest of the party was able to immobilize the man because he had a concealed weapon and put the man into the custody of police. Because this man was armed, he was able to protect himself and those around him.”

Could “a good guy with a gun” have stopped the tragic murder on that cold December night? Would the carjackers have had a gun if there were harsher restrictions and more thorough background checks? We do not know, but we do know that an innocent man with a promising future is gone.