On Tuesday, May 24, 2022, 21 lives were lost at the hands of a school shooter, an 18-year-old gunman, who first shot his grandmother and then proceeded to an elementary school.

Nineteen students and two teachers were shot and killed in Texas’s Robb Elementary School, reportedly the deadliest school shooting in a decade.

According to The Gun Violence Archive, in the United States there have been over 200 mass shootings in 2022. There has only been 153 days since January 1.

On the social media platform Instagram, and others like it, there have been multiple posts surrounding the shooting, gun laws, and the cycle that continues due to mass shootings.

A user on Instagram posted a picture of a whiteboard, and on the board, it explained the cycle of mass shootings in the U.S.   It claims that the pattern starts with a mass shooting, then media extravagance, leading to “thoughts and prayers,” and then to social media debates. It concludes with “no one actually does anything,” and then the cycle repeats with another shooting.

The post has been reposted by various users, agreeing with the observation. It expressed the idea through repetitive arrows.

Other posts circulated, one showing a man with a sign claiming that “More gun laws equal less gun violence. It’s that simple.”

Some users also share government officials’ contribution to this cycle, sharing multiple senators’ tweets on the app Twitter, giving their “thoughts and prayers.”

Junior Rileigh Crawford believes that “It’s ignorant that [government officials] aren’t using their power to restrict gun laws, knowing that so many shootings are happening and so many people are getting their lives taken from something that could be resolved.”

“Not one major gun-control bill has passed Congress since the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre,” Claims BU Today.  The site also commented that states, however, have been “more successful in passing laws to both tighten or loosen regulations.”

According to Politico, in a Fox News interview, Representative Mo Brooks stated that “If you’re talking about depriving people of their second amendment right to bear arms, well, first, it’s unconstitutional.” He added, “What we have to do is stop the motivation that causes these criminals, these horrific individuals, to do what they do.”

Junior Alyssa Edwards considered the response of the Representative, describing it as “fair” but the junior also elaborates that “representatives are always talk and never take any action to ensure people don’t abuse the power of the second amendment.”

Freshman Deanna Zipp explains she “feels that people should be able to own guns,” however the student also adds that “it should be less easy for just anyone to access guns to prevent these crimes.”