“It was a normal Wednesday,” one college student spoke about November 7, 2018. 

It was college country night at the Western-style bar called Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks, California. Students and customers 18 years and older filled the establishment as they celebrated a friend’s birthday, line danced to the rowdy music that roared through the speakers, watched the Lakers’ game, or played pool. At around 11:20 pm, a loud pop went off in the distance, a sound that students quickly disregarded as fireworks or part of the music to which they were tapping their feet. Little did they know that the sound had marked the first casualty of the night.

Moments later, a 28-year-old man wearing a black trench coat and dark sunglasses entered the bar, holding a Glock 21 .45-caliber handgun. Suddenly, the pops morphed into gunshots coming from his direction; the patrons immediately dropped to the floor and crawled under the pool table and chairs. Others grabbed chairs, smashing the windows in efforts to escape while people trampled over one another. By 2:00 a.m., the gunshots had stopped, as Ian David Long, the mentally disturbed gunman, turned the firearm on himself. When the police arrived at the scene, Long was found dead along with twelve innocent civilians at the scene. 

This mass shooting is one of too many in this day and age. The number of gun violence incidents that occur in the United States is nowhere near decreasing nor dormant. In fact, in 2018 alone, 340 mass shootings occurred in the United States, according to the Gun Violence Archive, with the Borderline Bar and Grill shooting marking the 307th mass shooting of the year. Furthermore, as of August 5, 2019, there have been 33,842 gun-related incidents, 8,975 deaths, 17,730 injuries, and 254 mass shootings in the country thus far. In fact, from July 28, 2019 to August 4, 2019—in the span of a week— three mass shootings took place with a total of at least 34 victims. The numbers continue to grow without showing any signs of ceasing. What is worse is that the headlines of mass shootings are no longer inciting fear into the American people’s hearts as this issue has become routine in our daily lives. Nonetheless, American citizens need to heed the warning signs and actions of these shootings: the main one is mental illness. 

Before discussing the implications of mental illness and its connection to mass shootings, it is worthy to note that news articles and journal articles alike have focused on the fact that mental illness is not a direct cause of the perpetrators; in actuality, some psychologists have even focused on the fact that people with mental disorders are the victims of shootings, not the assailants. It is an undeniable truth that “individuals with mental health problems are 10 times more likely to be victims of a violent crime when compared with the general population” (Leiner, De la Vega, Johansson). Yet, though people with mental illnesses are more prone to be victims of violence rather than the perpetrators of violence, that is not sufficient reason for us to ignore the connection between mental illness and mass shootings. Data show that three to five percent of all violent acts are committed by people with severe mental illnesses (Leiner, De la Vega, Johansson). In addition, only 1% of all yearly gun-related deaths are mass shootings committed by people with serious mental illnesses (Knoll and Annas). Yes, these numbers are significantly low, but even one percent accounts for the death of several—even hundreds—of innocent people. The Thousand Oaks shooting is just one of the three-to-five-percentage number. 

Let’s take, for example, just a few of the most commonly known mass shootings in history: the Columbine shooting resulted in 15 deaths and more than 20 injuries; the Virginia Tech shooting resulted in 32 deaths and more than 12 injuries; the Sandy Hook shooting resulted in 28 deaths and 2 injuries; the Aurora, Colorado “Batman” shooting resulted in 12 deaths and 70 injuries; and the Parkland shooting resulted in 17 deaths and 17 injuries (US School Violence Fast Facts). These are just a few of the numbers that show the gravity of the issue. Therefore, the commonwealth of the United States should strive to make this 1% to 0%. We should not allow civilians to fall victim to these mentally ill perpetrators because we choose to ignore this small number.

More specifically, one person who has contributed to the one-percent number is a 28-year-old man named Ian David Long. He was the sole reason that the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks, California shooting became the 307th mass shooting of 2018. He was the single cause for killing 12 people with a Glock 21 .45-caliber handgun before he shot himself (Karimi). 

After the tragedy, journalists uncovered Long’s history in hopes of an explanation as to why Long shot innocent people. More than ten years before the incident, Long attended Newbury Park High School in California, where he played baseball (Dillon and Schladebeck). His sophomore and junior year baseball coach, Scott Drootin, stated that he was “socially awkward” with “sad eyes” (Dillon and Schladebeck). Drootin also shared that “he was a very intense person … he didn’t seem like a happy kid. The coaches and I tried to get the players to smile and have fun. It was really hard to get him to smile” (Woodyard and Cava). In the profile for the varsity program for his baseball team in 2007, Long wrote that his future goal after baseball was “death” (Woodyard and Cava). 

Not only did his baseball coach witness disturbing behavior from Long, but his track coaches did also. Track coach Dominique Colell also claimed that Long had sexually assaulted her in his senior year (Thousand Oak Gunman’s High School Coach Speaks About Sexual Assault). He grabbed her rear after she refused to return his cellphone. In addition, fellow track coach Evie Cluke witnessed Long pretending to shoot Colell. Cluke described the situation: “When Dominique turned around and saw that, she turned pale as a ghost and it was very, very scary. Just sadistic… He was out of control. He would scream and cuss and his face would turn bright red and people would actually back away from him” (Myers). Furthermore, Cluke testified, “He said he wanted to be in the Marines because he wanted to go fight in the war for our country and he wanted to kill for our country. When you hear somebody say they want to be in the military because they want to kill people in the name of our country, that's chilling. It chilled me right down to my bones.” Even in his early years in high school, Long showed signs of disturbing behavior. Maybe these were signs that should have been detected? Maybe someone should have noticed and stopped him before he took innocent lives? Could somebody have stopped Long from killing twelve people? These are questions that linger but can definitely be answered.

Perhaps some people are answering the persisting questions by taking action. One such case is AB 61, a bill proposed by Assemblyman Phil Ting, D- San Francisco, allowing “co-workers and school personnel to petition a court to temporarily remove guns from someone they believe poses an immediate danger” (Extreme Risk Protection Orders). Former California governor Jerry Brown vetoed the bill because he “think[s] law enforcement professionals and those closest to a family member are best situated to make these especially consequential decisions” (AB-2888 Gun violence restraining orders.). He most likely made this decision because he believes that co-workers and school personnel are not fit to confiscate a person’s right to the Second Amendment. Nonetheless, the vetoing of this bill has put lives at stake; the vetoing of this bill has more repercussions than merely falsely accusing another person of possessing disturbing behavior, evident in the Thousands Oaks shooting. 

Although the original law does not allow witnesses to request a gun restraining order, the high school coaches Drootin, Colell, and Cluke had observed Ian David Long’s distressing behavior firsthand and could have requested a gun restraining order if the law had included school personnel. This single action could have probably prevented the Thousand Oaks mass shooting. Therefore, it is clear that California’s new governor Gavin Newsom should pass AB 61 to take a step in preventing the probability of future mass shootings.

Meanwhile, a law that allows firearms to be seized specifically from those who are mentally ill exists in the state of Illinois. ILCS 65, a law for the states of Illinois, California, and New York, declares that “Licensed psychotherapists, law enforcement, and school administrators must report mentally ill individuals who demonstrate violent behavior; these people become prohibited from possessing firearms” (Mental Health Reporting). But this applies only to the state of Illinois; the state of California holds the same law, yet it excludes school administrators. Thus, the state of California should extend this law to school administrators, just as Illinois does; furthermore, this law should be extended to not only those who are mentally ill individuals but also those who show signs of mental illness and demonstrate violent behavior even if they are not classified as mentally ill. 

During high school, Long was reported to the administrators several times; Cluke told school administrators, “You need to do something about this kid. He needs some help. And they're like, ‘Well, he's got a good heart he'll be fine. Just talk to him’” (Myers). However, the now retired principal of Newbury Park High School brushed off Long’s behavior as a one time incident instead of reporting the assault. If ILCS 65 were to be implemented in California and include school administrators, they would indeed have been required to report Long and therefore prohibit his possession of firearms. 

In California, guns held by mentally ill people kill countless innocent people die. The Californian government needs to take further precautions to decrease the number of mass shootings and the number of people killed. Ian David Long, a Marine veteran who showed signs of mental distress and post-traumatic stress disorder, as witnessed by his former high school coaches, carried out the mass shooting at the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks, California. If California passes AB 61, teachers, principals, and school faculty will be able to request a gun restraining order for those they believe are threats, preventing possible shootings. Moreover, with the amended ILCS 65, school administrators will be able to report those who show signs of mental illness and violent behavior, taking away their right to possess firearms. California governor Gavin Newsom needs to listen to the cries of those whose loved ones have been victims and pass AB 61 and amend ILCS 65, bringing us a step closer to ending the mass shooting epidemic in California.