Barely three weeks after the Stoneman Douglas High School there emerges another shooting at Central Michigan University (CMU) perpetrated by a 19-year-old student. Although the fatalities were less and the crime committed against his parents, it still suggests how easy getting access to a firearm may be. The high school incident was perpetrated by an 18-year-old Nikolas Cruz who admittedly was considered to have a mental problem. The Stoneman Douglas tragedy had 17 fatalities majority being children and a few adults. The tragedy solicited a national uproar causing the resurrection of gun law debates with one side calling for stricter gun controls while the other stuck with the Second Amendment. The Second Amendment in the US protects the right of people to keep and bear arms.
Although much traction has not caught on with the CMU incident it may at a later time hence influence the direction the gun law debates will take.
The CMU Incident at a Glance
James Eric Davis Jr. was apprehended in the early hours of Saturday morning near the campus for suspected crime of murdering his parents; Diva Davis and James Davis Sr., the mother, and father respectively. The shooting is said to have happened on Friday morning when parents were arriving to pick up their children for a week-long spring break.
Allegedly, Davis Jr. disappeared after committing the crime. He wore different outfits that he was shedding to confuse witnesses on the description of clothing he was wearing. According to a video from a CCTV camera in the dormitory section, Davis Jr. was wearing a hoody as he exited the campus compound. The police released a photo of the student to the public and urged them to 911 in case he was sighted. They also informed the public not to confront him because he was considered armed and dangerous. The incident happened a day after Davis Jr. rushed to hospital by campus police following a drug-related health complication.
A witness on Saturday spotted him on a train passing through the north end of campus and called the authorities. A search party of over 100 police officers caught up with him and arrested him without incident. His father was a part-time police officer in the Chicago suburb neighborhood of Bellwood.
Influence from the Shooting
The college campus shooting may be of minute nature but it comes at a crucial time when lawmakers are battling with coming up with a law on gun controls. Majority of Americans are pushing for stricter gun controls while the legislature is trying to be smart about it especially not to infringe on the Second Amendment.
The incident may sway the Republicans to loosen their stance on going against stricter gun controls or push the teacher’s union to accept arming teachers and school staff. Either way, it’s a wait and sees an approach that will probably take the course.
