The United States is most well-known for things like fast food, Hollywood, and, most infamously, guns. The Second Amendment in the Constitution gives American citizens the right to keep and bear arms,eaning that owning and handling firearms is not restricted to militia groups or the military. 

Only 3 out of 195 countries have the right to bear arms in their constitution: America, Mexico, and Guatemala.

America has had 109 public mass shootings between the years 2000 and 2022, the most mass shootings out of any country in the world. France has the second-highest rate of mass shootings, with 6 mass shootings between the years 2000 and 2022.

America’s issue with mass shootings can be attributed to the country’s gun restrictions, which are a stark contrast to many other countries.

Global studies teacher Alison Ross explained the differences between the U.S. and other countries.

 “Each country is kind of their own individual, there are some countries where…basically everyone has guns, but everyones also required to be part of the military, so you have to know certain gun safety things, and you have to go to training,” Ross said.

Many people in Switzerland own guns, however, every Swiss citizen is required to serve in the military and are required to pass gun training in the ilitary, ensuring that those who handle firearms are able to handle them safely.

Many countries, such as Japan, Australia, and the UK, have strict gun control laws that include banning assault and automatic weapons entirely, and Australia even implemented a temporary gun buyback program in response to a mass shooting in Melbourne in 2002.

In contrast, as America’s issue with mass shootings, specifically mass shootings in schools, began to rise above other countries’ issues with it, Texas lawmakers passed Senate Bill 11, or ‘campus carry’ in 2016. 

This bill permits anyone with a concealed handgun license to carry their firearm on any Texas public campus, so long as it’s concealed.

Senior Christina Bird explained the issue with this.  “I think that that’s going to really affect the problem, even though it’s already a big problem,” Bird said.

America’s gun control laws are incredibly loose compared to other countries. Though every country and government faces the issue of gun violence, America also has the most extreme rates of gun violence than any other country.

Ross noted the challenges that come along with gun restrictions. 

“You have this difference between security and liberties…when it comes to gun rights, that is very similar in that you’re sort of balancing people’s personal liberties to have their own firearms and use them for whatever they want to…versus the security of the whole and making sure that people aren’t hurt by firearms,” Ross said.

The right to own a gun starts at the age of 18 in America, seniors in high school are typically 18 years old. 

Senior Madeline Wright explained her issue with this. “You can be in high school and obtain a gun legally, but you can’t drink legally. I think it can create really dangerous scenarios because I think being so young, mentally, you’re not always in the best situation, and mood swings happen, and you’re not always thinking the best,” Wright said. 

In comparison, citizens can only purchase a firearm at the age of 25 in Brazil.

Senior Emma Herzing explained that although she doesn’t know too many details about gun control in America, even she sees how mass shootings have become increasingly more common in America, and the connection between how easy it is to possess a firearm in America.

“The fact that I’m not that educated and…I do have an understanding of ‘this can happen at any moment,’ and I don’t think it should be that way, especially in school,” Herzing said.

The rising threat of mass shootings has reached a level that no country has seen before, and the issue is hard to ignore.