Shooting at Brown University Highlights Ongoing Crisis of Gun Violence in the US
A shooting at Brown University's Rockefeller Library in Providence, Rhode Island, resulted in two students killed and eight hospitalized. The male gunman fired on nearby students and remained at large for about five days. Among those present was Anna, the 19-year-old daughter of the article's author, who was reading in the library and hid under a desk before being evacuated to a parent reunification center around 1 a.m.
SWAT teams guarded the library, described during the incident as bunker-like, and students were bus-evacuated to the reunification center, where volunteers assisted waiting parents.
The incident is framed within the broader context of American gun violence and questions why such events are treated as normal. References are made to Parkland survivors and the March For Our Lives movement. The article also cites the Highland Park 2022 Fourth of July parade shooting in Evanston, Illinois, noting that cancellations and increasing desensitization among children reflect the toll of repeated shootings.
In contrast, New Zealand's response to the Christchurch mosque shootings included a swift ban on assault rifles within six days and a gun buyback.
Advocacy efforts such as ENOUGH! Plays to End Gun Violence are addressing gun violence through national reading series and competitions focused on theatre as a medium for change.
