As the fountain lights shined through the UCF Reflecting Pond Monday evening, a small group of UCF students lit candles and reflected on the lives lost during the recent shooting at Oregon’s Umpqua Community College.
College Democrats at UCF members hosted a vigil as a way for UCF students to pay respect to the shooting victims.
“I think its really important that we pay respect to our peers,” UCF graduate student Amanda Colella said.
College Democrats at UCF Ally Faircloth said the vigil was held to not only honor the victims of the recent Oregon shooting, but also to honor those who have been lost in past mass shootings and “those that we will lose.” Faircloth expressed that she thinks shootings will continue to happen unless stricter gun laws are put into action.
“For me, I’m tired of hearing these stories, these horrible stories,” College Democrats at UCF President Nikki Mariutto said. “You read about these people, these students and professors, that lost their lives and you get so tired because it feels like only yesterday we were mourning the lives of another school shooting.”
In charge of arranging the event, Mariutto had a goal to raise awareness about the bill that is going through the Florida legislature that would allow guns on college campuses if it were to be approved.
Although some students are in favor of keeping guns off campus as a safety precaution, other students argue that allowing guns on campus will permit students to protect themselves in a life-threatening situation.
In favor of guns on college campuses for protection reasons, Colella said she would want mental health to be a considering factor when judging whether an individual is fit to own a gun or not.
