NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The Uvalde, Texas, school shooting targeted the nation's youngest students.
But for those in college now, school shootings have been part of their lives.
Vanderbilt rising sophomore Zack Maaiah said he can see himself at all the same places that were sites of recent shootings like the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting and last week's shooting in Murfreesboro after Riverdale High School's graduation.
"Like the grocery store in Buffalo or the graduation shooting at MTSU, these are all places I've been, these are places my family all go to," Maaiah said.
Maaiah works with the group Students Demand Action, who said more needs to be done to stop these kinds of shootings, like running background checks on all gun purchases.
At a press conference today, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said not guns, but mental health problems were the driving factor behind the Texas shooting, saying 18-year-olds have been able to buy long guns in Texas for more than 60 years.
"Think about during the time over the course of that 60 years, we have not had episodes like this," Abbott said. "Why is it over the course of those 60 years we have not had school shootings, and why do we do now?"
But Maaiah said all countries around the world deal with a mental health issue. He said that explanation doesn't account for why so many school shootings happen in the United States compared to other countries.
