Vancesaidthat school shootings are “a fact of life.”
The thing is, the ubiquity of school shootings is auniquely American phenomenon.
On the British side is me, Natasha Jokic.
I was born and raised in Reading, England, just outside of London.
I’m also married to an American.
I lived and worked in DC for two years after college before moving back to Chicago.
Here’s how our answers compared:
Whats your first memory of a mass shooting?
Brit:Honestly, I have no idea.
My first memory of mass murder was the7/7 bombings, but those were with homemade bombs.
TheCumbria shootingshappened when I was 14.
When was your first active shooter training?
Brit: I worked for NBCUniversal in London after the Charlie Hebdo shootings happened in Paris.
We had an armed intruder training then; I would have been around 20 years old.
When did you first see a loaded gun?
I’ve never held or shot one.
American:On the hip of the officer meant to serve as security in school.
Were school shootings something you were concerned about?
He threatened to hack me with a chainsaw.
That was stressful enough without guns being involved, which is an odd thing to be grateful for.
Knife crime was something I was more concerned about.
By then, schools had stopped feeling like a safe place.
Have you ever been involved in a school shooting?
When I went to NYU, we had an active shooter training our first day.
Me and the other international students joked, “Welcome to America.”
A few weeks later, I was at a bar and heard a loud bang down the street.
When I came out of the bar, the street had been sectioned off by the police.
While speaking to my professor, my phone kept going off.
I apologized and told her Id put it on silent.
She told us,Theres an active shooter on this part of campus.Weve locked the doors.
I messaged my mom.
I messaged my older sister.
Eventually, we were given an all-clear.
If I hear a loud noise, my first thought still isn’tgun.On an emotional level, it’s challenging.
But that’s nothing compared to the lives of people who are directly affected.
What are your thoughts on gun control now?
Brit:I don’t see the need for guns in the vast majority of cases.
They should be specialized and rare, notproducedin the hundreds of millions each year.
Much of the so-called debate around them strikes me as an absurd conversation.
I have been the victim of crimes, yet I wouldneverown a gun.
American:I wish politicians and media would stop referring to gun reform as gun control.
Before switching careers, I taught high school students.
It feels a bit unfair that the guns plaguing schools can be obtained without the same checks and balances.
Yes, you’re free to!
