In the wake of Friday’s shooting tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, many students have expressed condolences for the victims and called for increased government action on gun control.

The shooting occurred Friday morning when freshmen, sophomores, and juniors were either studying or taking finals, while seniors worked on college applications at home.

“When I first heard about [the shooting], I was immediately shocked,” Shivani Mitra (12) said. “I jumped out of my chair in my room and turned on the news for like two hours. I just felt disgusted and scared that someone could massacre children so easily.”

For many, initial horror gave way to growing concern for the deathly use of weapons in recent mass shootings.

“I think guns should be under tighter control,” Helen Wu (10) said. “Yes, there would still be crazies out there who would somehow figure out a way to injure others, but the chance that a mass killing would happen is much slimmer than it is now.”

Likewise, Sahana Rangarajan (10) believes that stricter gun control legislation is necessary to prevent such incidents from happening again.

“Although it is still unclear whether or not Adam Lanza was mentally disturbed in any way, if he was, it seems like his mother took a risk by collecting guns and having them openly available in her home,” Sahana said. “Many say that people, rather than guns, harm other people, but guns in my opinion are a vehicle for violence, and such power needs to be more efficiently kept in check.”

On the other hand, some students think that greater attention must be brought to the mental illness treatment in the country.

“The government should fund more research on neural diseases that cause people to lose their proper sense of judgment, in order to fight the root of this issue,” Anika Gupta (11) said.

As the Connecticut shooting took place at a school, students also addressed the level of security in our own campus and city.

“I feel pretty safe in the Bay Area; it’s generally safer than most areas,” Felix Wu (10) said. “But the shooting in Connecticut took place in a rural town, so it could really happen anywhere. Harker’s probably safer than most schools, especially the public schools considering the recent bomb threat at Monta Vista.”

Senior Kathir Sundarraj voiced similar thoughts yet claimed that overall safety in the city appears to be decreasing.

“I think the Bay Area security is good,” he said. “That being said, there was a bomb threat in Lynbrook and Monta Vista High School. I feel very safe at Harker, but I think in general safety in the Bay Area is going towards a downward trend.”

According to a school-wide announcement posted on the parent portal, security measures have been reinforced in all three campuses since December 14. The statement also offered advice for families to cope with a national tragedy together.