The University of Oklahoma was under emergency lockdown after reports of an active shooter on campus. The university had tweeted to advise students to avoid the South Oval area and to shelter in place as authorities searched the college campus for a shooter. However, after conducting a sweep of the campus, authorities declared no threat was found and lifted the emergency.
According to reports, a gunman reportedly fired shots at the University of Oklahoma in Norman. The incident comes just days after two nine-year-old girls, a nine-year-old boy, two teachers, and a school custodian died during a school shooting in Nashville.
School and college shootings are alarmingly common in the United States, where the proliferation of firearms has soared in recent years. In fact, there have been 129 mass shootings so far this year, defined as incidents in which four or more people were shot or killed, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive.
Efforts to ban powerful weapons have run up against opposition from Republicans, staunch defenders of the constitutional right to bear arms. With the alarming rise in gun violence, it is high time that authorities take steps to regulate the use of firearms.
University President Joseph Harroz lauded the swift response by law enforcement agencies, stating that "our officers took immediate action, our emergency protocols worked, and our community was kept informed. Campus is safe."
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