mass shooting

I still remember my first lockdown drill. I was in Mrs. Ibarra’s classroom in the blue wing of my elementary school. The blue on most days was a happy, comforting color, but that day in the dark it felt more sinister and scary. My classmates and I huddled silently in the corner as Mrs. Ibarra piled a mound of desks in front of the door. Earlier that day, she told us that in the event of a real shooting, we were to do everything we could to protect ourselves. She pointed out the window at the undeveloped plot of land behind our school — a wavy wheat field typical of Kansas summers.

(Brenda Tsay)

University of Texas at Austin Anthropology professor Pauline Strong posts a sign prohibiting guns at her office on the first day of the new campus-carry law Monday, Aug. 1, 2016. The law pushed by Gov. Greg Abbott and the Republican legislative majority will make Texas one of a handful of states that guarantee the right to carry concealed handguns on campus. (Jay Jenner/Austin American-Statesmanvia AP)

President Barack Obama and former President George W. Bush shake hands as first lady Michelle Obama, and Laura Bush, left, stand by after Bush spoke during a memorial service at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas, Tuesday, July 12,2016, for the fallen police officers. Five police officers were killed and several injured during a shooting in downtown Dallas last Thursday night. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Investigators gather around a Black SUV that was involved in Wednesday's police shootout with suspects, Thursday, Dec. 3, 2015, in San Bernardino, Calif. A heavily armed man and woman dressed for battle opened fire on a holiday banquet for his co-workers Wednesday, killing multiple people and seriously wounding others in a precision assault, authorities said. Hours later, they died in a shootout with police. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)