In the aftermath of the shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School last week, more and more American citizens are calling for greater gun control. Former student Nikolas Cruz opened fire with a semiautomatic AR-15 in the hallways and school grounds, leaving a death toll of 17. This makes it the most fatal US school shooting since 2012, and one of the world's deadliest school massacres. In any case, the students of Stoneman Douglas aren't sitting back and accepting the condolences of politicians.

"I think it’s great that they’re saying ‘thoughts and prayers,’ but it doesn’t do anything. And after every single shooting that’s what they say over and over again, but nothing ever changes," said 17-year-old Carly Novell, who hid in a closet for two hours while the gunman rampaged through the high school. "It has to be political because this happened because of guns, this happened because of the relaxed gun laws that we have."

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And now, police in Texarkana, Texas have arrested 24-year-old Ricky Jared Rankin for reportedly posting a photograph of an AR-15 - the model of semi-automatic rifle used in the Florida shooting - to Instagram, with the caption "I’m thinking about finally going back to school".

According to KTBS, the post resulted in an immediate police investigation, and as a precautionary step, local school districts were notified of the potential threat. Officers and FBI agents obtained a search warrant for Rankin's property and arrested the individual without incident.

While the firearm in question has not been found, weapons belonging to other family members in the home have been secured. Chief Dan Shiner confirmed that Rankin is currently being held in custody.

He stated, "We don’t know if this post was meant as a joke or if he really planned to go to a school with a gun. However, our department takes comments like this very seriously and will take swift action to protect the children in our schools. No one wants the tragic events that we’ve all seen in other places to be repeated here."

Rankin is one of several individuals to be detained after making ill-advised social media posts, which show them brandishing guns or making threats. Yesterday, WCTV reported that the Wakulla County Sheriff's Office in Florida has arrested 18-year-old Kane Watson for purportedly sending a Snapchat video of himself loading a firearm with the caption, "Don't go to school". And at least three students from Chattanooga, Tennessee are in custody after making threats or poorly received hoaxes on social media.

But whilst it's reassuring that law enforcement has been especially litigious in the wake of the mass slaughter in Parkland, Florida, the debate surrounding greater gun control is as topical as ever. Certainly, Florida's democratic senator, Bill Nelson, has repeatedly queried what it will take "for enough to be enough".

"Don't tell me tomorrow isn't the appropriate time to debate gun violence. If you're a political leader doing nothing about this slaughter, you're an accomplice," he wrote on Twitter.

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Our thoughts lie with everyone affected by this tragedy.

The full arsenal of the 19-year-old Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz has been revealed for the first time. Cruz, who has been charged with the murder of 17 people in a shooting in Florida, reportedly owned seven 'long guns' - all of which he purchased legally from stores in the US.

Among the arsenal was an AK-47 rifle, which he is alleged to have bought just less than one month beforehand in Deerfield Florida, before commencing with the attack that left 17 dead and multiple people injured. According to an anonymous law enforcement official, Cruz is also believed to have owned three other guns that he acquired through illegal avenues.

Speaking to the press in wake of the shooting, Kim Waltuch, the owner of Gun World of South Florida, said that Cruz had passed all the necessary checks required for purchasing a gun and that the teenager had shown no signs of behaviours that would arouse suspicion during the purchase:

"He purchased a shotgun and an AK-47. He did purchase a shotgun in 2016 and he purchased the AK in January. He was not a regular customer of ours. He did purchase firearms from us but it was not the AR-15. We went through the process of the background checks which is the only way we release a firearm. He was immediately approved."

It's believed that Cruz used an AR-15 to carry out the shooting, although the ones which he bought from Waltuch's store are not thought to have been used to carry out the massacre.

Cruz made his first appearance in court on Monday and it's been reported that he failed to make eye contact with anyone present in the courtroom. His lawyers have said that the shooter will plead guilty as long as prosecutors agreed not to push for the death penalty, although this had not been agreed.

Speaking to the Sun-Sentinel, Broward Public Defender, Howard Finkelstein said that while Cruz should be sent to "prison for life", he claims that the system "failed him".

"There’s only one question: Should this young man live or should he die by execution? We believe it’s in nobody’s best interest to go through a circus of a trial.

"There’s no way anyone can minimize the tragedy of what took place. It’s time to mourn; it’s time to figure out how to prevent future tragedies.

"He should spend the rest of his life in prison, but he does not deserve to die.

"This kid didn’t have to fall through the cracks. He screamed for help and we failed him.

"He should never go free. Let him plead guilty and send him to prison for life."

In wake of the horrific events that took place in the school, hundreds of students are expected to urge lawmakers to look at America's policies when it comes to owning weapons. It's hoped that with the pressure from those that survived the attack, as well as people who are anti-guns, lawmakers will look into ways of preventing another massacre happening.

It's hard to see how people can be in favour of guns after multiple massacres have happened in the States over the past few years. If you allow anyone to carry a gun, it's never going to end well.