How Many More Mass Shootings Need to Happen Before Action is Taken?
Mass shootings become an all too common occurrence in America. In 2022 alone, there have been more mass shootings than days passed, as there have been over 200 mass shootings across America. In the past month alone, a devastating massacre in Uvalde, Texas occurred where police refused to enter Robb Elementary School during an active shooter, and a mass shooting in Buffalo, New York where the shooter targeted a black community. In these 2 mass shootings, over 30 people were killed (over half being children) and 20 people injured.
Following these mass shootings, 9 other states experienced shootings resulting in the deaths of a dozen people and over 60 injured. What is causing the high volume of shootings and in what ways can everyday citizens stop them from continuing?
The most obvious reason for the shootings is the vast availability of guns. These guns are sold to people in states that have less strict gun control laws, making the accessibility and opportunities for a gun-related death to become commonplace. As seen by the CDC’s data on firearm mortality rate by state, the states that have the most aggressive gun control laws have the lowest rate of mortality. On the other hand, many red states such as Mississippi and Texas have very submissive gun control laws, which are accompanied by extremely high firearm mortality rates. This demonstrates a link between the accessibility of guns and the mortality that comes with them. Through this correlation, the obvious way to stop or slow the number of deaths from shootings is to decrease the number of guns that are in circulation. By limiting the market for firearms, specifically automatic weapons, through more intensive gun control laws, many lives can be saved across America. Especially children’s lives as they simply try to attend their school to educate themselves.
This year, more children have been brutally shot and killed by gunfire in schools than cops have been in the line of duty. The thought that in America, the “greatest country in the world”, more children who are attempting to get an education are murdered in schools than cops are while protecting the American people. This demonstrates to a tee that in America, it is more dangerous to be a child going to school than it is to be a police officer. The implications that this sheer fact determines should be clear; guns must be controlled. The fear that I, a high school student, have when going to school every day that someone with an AR-15 can enter my school and shoot and kill me should not be normal. As a student, I should have the ability to attend my school without the worry or thought in the back of my mind that someone may be able to purchase a weapon at the age of 18 and use it the very same day on innocent children. In this very year, multiple school shooting threats were made to both my schools and the multitude of schools that are in my neighborhood. Recollecting the fear of attending school on the day that threats were made, alerting all of my peers in an attempt to possibly save their lives. These are not the struggles that high school students should deal with. These kids should be worrying about college, school crushes, or homework; not fearing that they may be murdered if they attend school on any given day.
The need for assault weapons in the hands of the public is unnecessary as these weapons have been designed for war and killing another human being. The public has no civilized use for an assault weapon, including hunting which an assault rifle would be extremely unecessary for. The onslaught that these automatic rifles and weapons with extremely long magazines can bring has no humane usage in the modern world, yet lawmakers continue to avoid making changes. The choice of picking guns over saving the lives of thousands of children should be an easy one. The need to push lawmakers to stop accepting money from the NRA or gun manufacturers, and start thinking about the thousands of innocent children who are losing their lives to guns every year. In order to have a future for tomorrow, we must ensure that the children of today can grow up in a safe and secure environment without the fear of being shot in their schools.
