After 9/11, acts of terrorism has been on high watch. Although security has been increased, the violence in our country has not gone down. There has been 1,624 mass shootings in 1,870 days. These numbers were gathered the day after the Parkland, Florida shooting which means that numbers have gotten higher since then. A local FBI employee who specializes in anti-terrorism, who asked to remain anonymous, was asked what he knew about terrorism. His response was “Prior to 9/11, we didn’t know nearly as much as we should have known. The U.S. government didn’t take it as a serious threat.” Terrorism still continues to be a threat inside and outside of the United States, but that particular attack was a wakeup call for the government.

The same anonymous FBI employee was asked if terrorism has affected our society’s mindset. He replied, “It’s definitely brought a lot of fear.” Even since 2001, 40 percent of Americans think the country is more vulnerable to terrorism than ever before. “It’s just as bad now as it has been. Internationally, it is an insane problem,” according to the FBI employee. Although the world has been more cautious of these violent actions, fear still lives within many.

There has been much discussion if the recent mass shootings in America can be identified as terrorism. He said, “As a government employee, we use a very strict definition of what we think is terrorism… For us, it is the use of force or the threat of force to bring about political or social change.” Terrorism is used to make a statement specifically for politics by using violence and intimidation. Even though the mass shooting acts are violent and a threat to the United States, the government doesn’t consider the mass shootings acts of terrorism.

Most of the terrorism is outside of the United States, but still brings fear inside this country. “The likelihood a typical person being a victim of the international terrorist attack in the United States is and always has been extremely small.” Said the FBI employee. Although violence is much of what is shown on television today, there is not much of a chance that the typical American will be involved in any of these disturbances.

Terrorism has been a threat for years to inside and outside of the United States. Even though the harmful incidents that are far from accidents continue to happen, there is no telling how long they will last, where they will hit, and who they affect. In order to prevent this ongoing violence, the government can advance their security, ban military weapons, and change how we think about the offender.