Sitting in the library of Sciences Po on October 5, just a few days after the attack at Umpqua Community College in Oregon, I scrolled down my Facebook newsfeed which was filled with articles, various statuses about the tragedy, and info graphics on gun control issues. After sharing this photo I logged off the computer and left for class. When I reached the library exit, the doors were locked and I couldn’t leave. Through the glass in the doors I could see that the lobby of the main building was empty. This was very strange, usually at this time the lobby was packed wall to wall with students.
I turned to a French student who was standing nearby and asked her what was going on; in a completely neutral, almost indifferent voice, she said “there’s been an attack.” My stomach dropped, how many people had been shot? Was anyone dead? Are my friends okay? But also…why was this girl so calm? How was she so detached? When I asked for more details she eventually explained that it was a paint attack, as if it were obvious. A group had come in and thrown green paint everywhere as a protest (of what I’m still not sure); the only casualties were a couple laptops of students who had been working in the lobby.
At an American University, a student would never say so nonchalantly “there has been an attack” especially in reference to a paint bomb. This got me thinking about the differences between the French and American experience with mass shootings, so I decided to interview two of my European classmates, Sandrine (French) and Deniz (German), to explore this discrepancy a little more.
As an American, I can offhandedly name ten fatal shootings in places like schools and churches, I know people who own guns for defensive and recreational reasons, and each quarter when I start a new set of classes I almost subconsciously identify where the exits are in every class and where I would hide in case of an attack – American classmates I talked to unanimously said they do this too. But what about Sandrine and Deniz? How many times have they turned on the news to hear about yet another school shooting tragedy, do they feel their countries’ laws adequately protect them, is gun violence even something they worry about, and would they ever consider owning a gun themselves? Below are the answers to these questions:
Amelia: Can you recall any public attacks or shootings at a school, religious places of worship etc. during or before your lifetime? If so, how many?
Deniz: To be honest not many, just a few. When I was in high school there was an incident at a high school in another region of Germany, but it was a minor incident. Like I said, it was a minor incident but it was in the media; it was in the news; it was a big thing, but not many people were killed and maybe some were hurt.
Sandrine: Yes, 3 years ago there had been an assault in a Jewish school – an anti-Semitic assault. A guy entered in the maternelle (children’s school) to kill Jewish people and there was a shooting. Also the Charlie Hebdo attack.
Amelia: Would you say this is rare though, like you can’t think of a lot of times this has happened?
Sandrine: Yes, but I think this is increasing. Before it was very rare.
Amelia: Do you feel your country’s gun access laws are sufficient to keep guns out of peoples’ hands? In other words, do you worry about people being able to have guns?
Deniz: I don’t worry about my country, but what I worry about is the EU. With globalization and international criminal organizations within the European union… weapons might get into the EU. But I think that within the individual countries, I don’t think that it’s really possible to have guns.
Sandrine: In France I think that the laws are sufficient but their implementation is very different depending on the area. So like suburbs and poor areas, it’s easier to have access to a gun. So we don’t have to change the laws, but we have to change their implementation in difficult areas.
Amelia: Are gun violence and gun access a controversial issue? Are they discussed a lot?
Sandrine: I think it’s a huge issue but only when we are talking about USA –laughs-
Deniz: yeah exactly, exactly about USA –laughs- like we have discussions about if the US should continue to have guns
Side note: I did not expect them to answer this way, I thought maybe they would not be concerned about gun violence as an issue in France and Germany but the fact that people from around the world see and talk about the frequency of these attacks in the US really grabbed my attention.
I then asked Sandrine and Deniz about the role of guns in their lives.
Amelia: Have you ever worried that this could happen in your personal school, place of worship etc.? Is that ever anything you’ve thought about?
Sandrine: no, not really
Deniz: not at all. I used to go to a high school that was in a local community…there aren’t even any fences around. Where I come from in Germany anyone can enter the building and since everybody knows each other, there’s no incentive to build a fence and I don’t think that could ever happen to my school
Amelia: This one is just a yes or no questions would you ever own a gun?
Deniz: no. no, no, no
Sandrine: -laughs- noo
To be clear, I’m not claiming that Sandrine, Deniz, and I are representative of the general French, German and American experience and perspective, nor am I claiming that the EU is a realm free of gun violence. However, what I am saying is this: there have been 993 mass shootings since Obama’s reelection in 2012, with almost 300 of those occurring 2015; talking to Sandrine and Deniz, as well as living in Paris in general, has showed me that it’s possible for things not to be that way, it’s possible for me to sit down in the library and scroll through my Facebook without marking all the exits or mentally noting a hiding space nearby.