A Year of Fear: One Year After the UNLV Shooting, Gun Reform Is Urgently Needed

“RUN, HIDE, FIGHT,” demands the UNLV desktop computers as we were whiplashed from an educational setting into that of imminent danger. There is an active shooter on campus. Do I run, hide, or fight? The sobering reality of living in the U.S. is that we have all thought about what we would do in this situation. Yet, you can never fully prepare for this kind of panic. Nor can you fully prepare for the trauma that follows. Suddenly, our campus has collectively endured a wound that has never quite healed, highlighting the urgent need for comprehensive gun reform in Nevada and beyond.

During the shooting, we would text each other every couple of minutes to make sure we were all still alive — dreading the possibility of not receiving a text back. I (Brooke) was in my office in the Department of Sociology on campus. With my hearing muffled and my vision blurred, I tried to decide which desk in my office I should hide under. The metal desk, right? But the metal desk is straight across from the window. Although, my window faces an empty parking lot, and surely the shooter wouldn’t aim up to that window. Right? Alone, out of breath and shaking, I crawled around my office unplugging lights and closing my blinds. Do I barricade the door? I can’t move that desk without it being loud. I decided to just hide under a desk. I opted for the metal one.