On November 8th, gunshots rang through the Borderline Bar & Grill in Thousand Oaks, California killing 12 including the perpetrator. In response to the gunfire, many politicians, celebrities, and civilians asked for thoughts and prayers. Among the slain was Alaina Housley, a student and niece of Sister Sister actress Tamera Mowry-Housley. Many of the killed were young college students from the area.
In addition to Housley, Telemachus Orfanos, age 27, was another victim of this mass shooting in the quiet area of Thousand Oaks. Although this event was horrific and new to its victims, Orfanos was not new to the realm of domestic terrorism. Orfanos survived the Las Vegas shooting that occured a little over a year ago that killed 58 people and injured hundreds of others. His mother does not want thoughts and prayers– she wants action.
“I don’t want prayers. I don’t want thoughts. I want gun control. And I hope to God nobody else sends me any more prayers. I want gun control. No more guns,” Orfanos’ mother, Susan Schmidt-Orfanos, said to CNN.
This horrific event occurred just a week and a half after another mass shooting occurred in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In this act of terrorism, a gunman entered a synagogue and murdered 11 people as they worshipped. California Governor elect, Gavin Newsom, spoke about the shooting after winning the election the night prior.
“This is America…This doesn’t happen anywhere else on the planet. We can’t let folks forget that. We can’t allow this to be normalized,” Newsom said.
In light of these horrific actions, many have turned to social media to honor the lives lost as well as demand stricter gun laws in hopes of minimizing the possibility of future mass shootings.
Sources: CNN, Vox
Grace Nealy 
Jason Karch 
Josh Steen