In a mere eight-year period (2015-2022), no less than 19,000 individuals have been killed or injured by gun violence in mass shootings across the United States. Since 2002, mass shootings have resulted in the injury or death of an additional 9,000 individuals.
Many citizens around the U.S thought that by 2026, these mass shootings would have started to happen less frequently or at least be taken more seriously. However, we were wrong. On the first day of the new year alone, there were 3 mass shootings. In America, mass shootings are so common that people have become desensitized to them. They mourn these tragic events on the day of, and then seem to move on the next.
Mass shootings outside of the U.S. are much more rare; typically, if one occurs, it presents a major national crisis for that country. They quickly respond to these tragic and preventable events with rapid legislative changes, like stricter licensing rules and mandatory buyback programs.
Gun violence is a huge problem in the U.S., but still, little legislative action has taken place. Political differences in the U.S., bolstered by powerful lobbying groups, make it difficult to pass comprehensive federal laws intended to curb gun violence, such as universal background checks, even when these initiatives receive broad support from the public, including responsible gun owners.
School shootings, in particular, have become uniquely American tragedies, with little action being taken to prevent innocent students from facing preventable harm at the place they spend the majority of their time and are meant to feel safe. Students should not have to feel scared to go to school, fearing what might happen.
Gun violence has turned trusted learning environments into sites of potential trauma, impacting mental health and academic focus. Approximately 95% of public schools in the U.S. conduct active shooter or lockdown drills, which is far more than any other country, showing that firearm violence has gotten out of hand.
“I think it makes students feel intimidated and afraid to go to school, which is very sad and not something that should be happening. I think it also makes you feel unsafe,” State High student Gabriella Krentzman stated.
Last year, a planned attack at State High was thwarted by local police, but coming so close to such a tragedy left the community devastated.
“The planned attack that we had at our school last year has gone through my head, and it does scare me,” Krentzman said. The effects were not limited to just students.
“The threat happened, and then the alleged date that they were planning, over half the student body wasn’t there, there were seventy, eighty teachers who called off,” State High School Resource Officer Matt Hertlein stated.
One way to prevent gun violence is to have more action from lawmakers passing legislation to require background checks on all gun sales. This would be beneficial because in 25% of mass shootings with four or more victims, the shooter was legally prohibited from buying a gun at the time of the shooting. Many responsible gun owners, such as those who possess firearms for hunting, already support these initiatives.
Sadly, guns and hate are a harmful combination, and more than 25,000 hate crimes in the U.S. involve firearms. So far, half of the states have adopted this policy, but we are going to need more than that to prevent hate-motivated violence.
Learning from past tragedies is the only silver lining to be taken from these awful events.
“The only thing positive that we can take out of them is that we can always do something better after each one. It’s something that you’re not gonna be able to stop every single one, but even if we can stop ones, too, is what we learn from old ones, then it’s a huge benefit,” Hertlein said.
Hopefully, the day will come when we finally dare to stop these senseless tragedies, and students and teachers no longer live in fear of facing fatal harm at school.
