On the night of November 7, 2018, fatal shots broke out inside of a Thousand Oaks, California country bar often occupied by college students. The shooting resulted in thirteen fatalities, one of those being the shooter himself. The shooter committed the act using a legally-purchased .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol. The shooting, once again, sparked the debate on gun control and the accessibility that people have to these kinds of weapons.

Prior to committing the act, the shooter, Ian David Long, a military veteran, posted to Instagram about his plans that night in disturbing detail. According to ABC News and Buzzfeed, the shooter posted at 11:24 p.m., “It’s too bad I won’t get to see all the illogical and pathetic reasons people will put in my mouth as to why I did it… Fact is I had no reason to do it, and I just thought… life is boring so why not?”

Three minutes following his initial post, Long then posted, “I hope people call me insane (two smiley face emojis) would that just be a big ball of irony? Yeah… I’m insane, but the only thing you people do after these shootings is ‘hopes and prayers’…or ‘keep you in my thoughts’.” He added, “Every time…and wonder why these keep happening… (two smiley face emojis).”

The situation raises the question of whether or not the nation is doing enough to be aware of potential threats to society, and making sure to report them. It also should make us all question how much we are doing on a national level to prevent future attacks like this from occurring.

The victims of the shooting include a 27-year-old man who was at the 2017 Las Vegas shooting, the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, which took the lives of fifty-eight people. This only demonstrates the cycle of gun violence being perpetuated across the nation.

In an article by BBC News from October 27, 2018, the Pew Research Center gives the latest statistics of America’s gun-related homicides in relation to international statistics. According to the statistics, the United States ranks at 64%, England at 4.5%, Canada at 30.5%, and Australia at 13%.

The seemingly endless cycle of violence is a major problem, but more specifically for the United States as a nation. Gun violence is mainly a national issue rather than an international one. This signals a severe problem, and the government needs to be doing more in reaction to tragedies involving gun violence.