On April 10, San Bernardino experienced its second tragedy in less than 18 months, as a shooter open-fired on his estranged wife, leaving three dead. Following the shooting, the hashtag #SanBernardino surfaced on Twitter, as messages of sadness and positive thoughts poured in; however, amidst this, two main topics arose for discussion…was the shooting newsworthy because of a lack of gun control or its connection to domestic violence issues?
Karen Elaine Smith & Jonathan Martinez were killed today because #domesticviolence is not treated as the violent crime it is #SanBernardino
— Victoria Brownworth (@VABVOX) April 11, 2017
NEW: School officials say San Bernardino shooting incident is being looked at as a domestic violence incident involving the teacher.
— Tom Winter (@Tom_Winter) April 10, 2017
It feels like America got freaked out over the #sanbernardino shooting, realized it was a DV case and not terrorism, and said "oh ok."
— Colin Taylor (@ColsBols) April 10, 2017
Today's shooting in #SanBernardino is an awful tragedy. It's not enough to just be sorry anymore–we need tighter gun laws. #GunReformNow
— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) April 10, 2017
BREAKING: NRA and GOP reminds families of the victims of San Bernardino's elementary shooting that guns don't kill people. #SanBernardino
— Matty Ice (@MattyIceUS) April 10, 2017
THIS#SanBernardino pic.twitter.com/J6fWXX0oEW
— Kimberly Brusk (@peaceforus4ever) April 11, 2017
The latter three tweets argued the event was a result of gun control. Those in favor of stricter gun control argue that instead of hoping for less school shootings, the government should impose regulations on who can purchase guns; in their opinion, gun violence has become an established part of society and as a result, incidents such as this occur, as the shooter had a history of criminal history.
On the contrary, others chose to focus on the motive of the shooter, a retaliation against his failed marriage. According to www.domesticabuseshelter.org, 75 percent of domestic violent homicides are women who attempt to or have left a relationship. The shooter outwardly targeted and threatened his ex-wife social media, however, the threats were never heeded seriously and his Facebook praised their marriage, having many argue what actually constitutes domestic violence.
In my opinion, no one side is correct, as both are prevalent issues in today’s society. However, it’s one thing to acknowledge problems, but another to solve them… so let’s keep the number of school shootings at 186.