In the first 10 months of 2024, there were 58 school shootings in America. 44 of those at grade schools, the rest on college campuses. In 2022, gun violence became the leading cause of death in young people. Today, suicide is top 3. This is a fixable problem. Gun control is necessary; fear shouldn’t be in our schools.
Gun control doesn’t mean taking away everyone’s guns. Gun control means submitting background checks before purchasing a gun. It means CC permits not being handed out to civilians who don’t need them. There are many ways to fix this epidemic of violence in schools.
One effect of the lack of action taken by the government was the Orlando-Harris case. On October 15, 2022, Harris’s family went to local police and asked cops to take away the 19 year old’s AR-15 and bulletproof vest because he was mentally unstable. Police told the family there was nothing they could do but suggest Orlando put his gun in a storage locker. Nine days after Orlando’s threats were made, he walked into his former high school, shot 9 people and killed 2 before he was killed by police.
Sadly, this isn’t the only avoidable tragedy that occurred because the government is more focused on its reputation than the next generation of Americans. One example of how fast we should have reacted was after the shooting at Columbine High, is Australia. In April of 1996, a shooting left 35 people dead and 18 injured. 12 days later, semi-automatic shotguns, along with rifles were banned. That was 28 years ago. Since then, there has been one shooting in Australia. Just to show the difference between Australia and the US, since 2015, over 19,000 people have been hurt in shootings. When you watch the news, now it’s surprising if there hasn’t been a shooting overnight. Australia took 12 days to take action. It’s been 26 years since Columbine, and all politicians have done since is to provide condolences to the families who just lost their child.
There are some less controversial ways to stop the bloodshed. Weapons trafficking is leading to a lot of violence. 90% of gun violence in this country is committed with illegal weapons. Gunrunning is the act of transporting and selling contraband firearms, explosives, and ammunition. If the US were to put time and effort into stopping gunrunning in America, so many families would get justice for loved ones, and the crime rate would decrease. However, both gun control and ending the illegal weapons trade in America are crucial to making America safer for everyone, including children.
The work that needs to be done to make the country safer will be hard. But it’s necessary for the future of Americans. There are so many different ways we could make schools and the streets safer. These policies won’t be easy to introduce and enforce, but neither is watching another parent say goodbye to their child who was killed at school. This change is extremely overdue.
Sources
Bricknell, Samantha, et al. “Mass shootings and firearm control: comparing Australia and the United States.” Australian Institute of Criminology, www.aic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-06/draft_of_trends_issues_paper_mass_shootings_and_firearm_control_comparing_australia_and_the_united_states_submitted_to_peer_review.pdf. Accessed 8 Nov. 2024.
Goldstick, Jason E., et al. “Current Causes of Death in Children and Adolescents in the United States.” The New England Journal of Medicine, 10 Apr. 2022, www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc2201761. Accessed 8 Nov. 2024.
Hollingsworth, Heather. “Family pleaded to have assault rifle seized before deadly school shooting.” ABC News, 2 Nov. 2024, abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/family-pleaded-assault-rifle-seized-deadly-school-shooting-115435158. Accessed 8 Nov. 2024.
“Mass Shootings in the United States.” Everytown for Gun Safety, Mar. 2023, everytownresearch.org/mass-shootings-in-america/. Accessed 8 Nov. 2024.
Matthews, Alex, et al. “School shootings in the US: Fast facts.” CNN US, 8 Nov. 2024, www.cnn.com/us/school-shootings-fast-facts-dg/index.html. Accessed 8 Nov. 2024.
Miniño, Arialdi M. “Mortality Among Teenagers Aged 12-19 Years: United States, 1999-2006.” National Center for Health Statistics, May 2010, www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db37.htm#:~:text=This%20is%20less%20than%201,half%20of%20all%20teenage%20deaths. Accessed 8 Nov. 2024.
Stolberg, Sheryl Gay. “Here Are Our Fact Checks From the Vice-Presidential Debate.” The New York Times, 1 Oct. 2024, www.nytimes.com/live/2024/10/01/us/factcheck-walz-vance?searchResultPosition=1#this-epidemic-of-violence-the-gross-majority-close-to-90-percent-in-some-of-the-statistics-ive-seen-of-the-gun-violence-in-this-. Accessed 8 Nov. 2024.
