There is a bridge. I remember visiting Cornell University in 2009 and strolling across it, pausing to take in the epic expanse of dramatic cliffs and peaceful river far below. In that moment of vast appreciation I could have never guessed the bridge’s gruesome reputation.

Cornell University garnered national attention in 2010 after three students took fatal leaps off the campus’ many bridges within the span of a month. Desperate to shake off the nickname “suicide school” the University took swift action to prevent future jumpers, erecting a series of chain-linked barbed wire fences on seven bridges in the area.

Rather than address the underlying causes of college suicide, Cornell wanted a solution that was quick and easy, and above all one that everyone could see. Cornell had spent more than a million dollars marring their campus even though that money could have gone toward further expansion of mental health services. While the fences might have deterred impulse jumpers they didn’t address the problem at the heart of this issue.

A once majestic visage was suffocated. Crossing the bridges felt like walking from one prison ward to another. Student outrage soon followed. The fences served as a constant physical reminder of the darker side to the college experience.

Cornell has since removed the chain-linked eyesores and replaced them with protective netting underneath the bridges. If only we could address the shooting sprees in this country the same way: rather than put in place laws limiting Second Amendment rights, opt for a renovation of mental health services to act as a safety net for those who may be driven to commit these atrocities.

Instead, after the Newtown tragedy, in seemingly record time, President Obama threw together a proposal to reform Second Amendment rights, requiring more extensive government background checks for gun ownership and a ban on military-style assault weapons, a reasonable proposal that should have been pushed through long ago. but wasn’t.

It’s pathetic that 20 first graders had to die for this country to start taking gun control seriously.

I’m not saying that reforming the way we distribute weaponry in this country is out of line. I’m saying that knee-jerk reactions like Cornell’s hideous fences only address one small part of the problem and don’t combat the underlying causes, which are so complicated we tend to avoid thinking about them.

We don’t want to think about young white males, who are essentially invisible in the system. No matter how many warning signs James Holmes and Adam Lanza exhibited, they remained under the radar, while presumably if they were black this would not have been the case.

We don’t want to think about how mental health services are only available to those who can afford it.

And we really don’t want to think about how, according to an infographic from GOOD magazine and Column Five Media, there are already 88 guns for every 100 people in this country. Any measures that may slightly inhibit purchases of assault weapons will realistically fail to prevent future tragedies. Let’s also not forget Lanza tried and failed to purchase additional weapons.

While Obama’s proposal may be a nice gesture, it’s too little too late. This isn’t a problem that will be instantly negated by legislature alone.

We can’t pinpoint the source of why this keeps happening but gun availability is only one contributing factor. Boiling mass shootings down to cause-and-effect only simplifies something that is cultural, psychological and deeply complicated.

We have become all too accustomed to the ritualized exercises in mass hysteria that follow these unfathomable tragedies. For days after the shooting the nation was plastered to media outlets, eager to gain any shred of explanation or relief. In the age of instant gratification, we want answers and solutions as quickly as possible. But we also must accept that easy answers – while they might temporarily satiate the public’s need for retribution – will have little long-term impact.

Cornell realized that fences wouldn’t stop the suicidal from wanting to end their lives. Now we must realize gun control alone won’t end this frightening trend of senseless slaughter that has now hit far too close to home.

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