When news broke that there had been yet another school shooting, the WIS community felt both sad and angered.

The shooting occurred October 1st at Umpqua Community College in Oregon, when a gunman opened fire on a classroom, killing nine. Unfortunately, the Oregon shooting is not an unusual occurrence, but rather the most recent in a long list of mass shootings to occur in the United States. According to the Center for Disease Control, an average of 282 people are shot by a gun every day in the US.

The government is divided on what to do about these shootings, one side arguing that much stricter gun laws will result in fewer mass shootings and gun deaths, while the other claims that these laws will infringe on Americans’ second amendment rights, and that guns are necessary for self-protection.

Sophomore Isabel Morichi believes that shootings like this could be prevented if buying guns were illegal. Due to the largely liberal atmosphere, it is safe to assume that the general consensus among WIS students is that, like Morichi, these shootings could be prevented with stricter gun laws or a ban on guns.

“There are too little restrictions for buying guns,” said tenth-grader Alya Al-Kibbi, “There should be more training and regulations for people who want to buy guns”.

While the government is still undecided on what measures of precaution to take, if any, schools have already adopted protocols for how to behave if there ever was an armed intruder. WIS has extensive drills and protocols in an effort to minimize the danger students and faculty members face if there ever was such a threat on campus.

“The more you see [school shootings] happening in the news, the more you think, this could be us” Assistant Principal Robert Spezzano said, “so we try to be ready for that.”

WIS’ protocol include: turning off all classroom lights, turning off electronic devices, sitting in the corner away from the door and windows, locking classroom doors, and complete silence.

According to Spezzano, there has always been comprehensive protocol for if there ever was an armed intruder. However comprehensive drills didn’t start until the school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut happened.

By Sophie Almekinders