Scared in School: How to End School Shootings

By: Austen Wyche

We should never feel unsafe in a place of learning, a place where we risk our lives for an education. Shame on the “leaders” who have done little to protect the youth of this nation, after every mass shooting in a school offering “thoughts and prayers” and moving on to the next political issue that comes along. This is not political. This is a human moral issue having to do with the livelihood of students who go to school to get an education, not to risk their lives. We dedicate this to the victims of Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook Elementary School, Marjory Stoneman Douglas, Columbine, Sante Fe High School, Umpqua Community College, and the lives taken in the countless school shootings that take place in the United States each year.

When I first found out about what occurred at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado in 1999, I was very scared to go to school. I saw a video of the incident that occurred in the cafeteria of the school, and it haunts me even to this day. At my school, I try my best not to go to the cafeteria as it brings back my memory of that video I watched in 6th grade. Many students across the world are scared to go to school because of the commonality of school shootings. The people who represent us need to solve this public crisis, and they need to do it soon. It is very sad that the recent coronavirus pandemic had to occur for the United States to finally be free of a mass shooting for a month. School shootings are another pandemic, a pandemic of public safety, and we need to reform immediately to solve this issue. I am a strong believer in our right to bear arms, but there must be a reasonable solution to take guns out of the wrong hands.

We have normalized that school shootings in our society are inevitable and cannot be avoided. Why are we in a society that admits their failure to an issue and does not attempt to at the very least find a meaningful solution? We have begun to perform active shooter drills at schools, which many studies show are doing more harm than good, effectively traumatizing children. As these drills become more realistic, where some police departments and schools use fake victims and blood, the procedures only scare children and result in students becoming more fearful in a place where they should not be afraid. A lot of children that have experienced violence in their lives and live in unstable households are traumatized by the drills, which do not help safety in schools. The real meaningful way to end school shootings and prepare students for the inevitable is to enact legislation to prevent it from ever happening, as well as training police departments on how to respond properly to these threats. This is the only way to keep us safe.

A problem that needs to be solved is the inactivity of our elected leaders. When school shootings occur, we have elected leaders who rely on political action groups that prevent all progress from being accomplished. After the Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, President Obama and the Senate Democrats introduced a resolution that would expand background checks for all firearm purchases. These background checks would have prevented people who wished to inflict harm from getting their hands on weapons. The Republican Party rejected all proposals to change gun safety or implement any gun safety reforms following the shooting that left 20 children dead, in December of 2013. If we could manage to pass background checks to prevent guns from falling into the wrong hands, it would substantially help identify those who should not legally be allowed to have firearms. Here is the sole reason why our politicians in the United States are unable to pass safety measures for guns: The National Rifle Association. The NRA is a gun-rights group in the US that makes large donations to politicians who support expanding gun rights; this means those politicians must oppose any attempts at gun safety or reform to the system in the United States. We need to vote out politicians who endanger our lives by paying more attention to their re-election. It is time that we start voting and putting an end to gun violence on America’s school grounds.

There are a few actions that can be taken to protect American students from mass shootings. First of all, there should be a Federal Assault Weapons Ban. During the Clinton administration, a Federal Assault Weapons Ban passed, and according to many research studies, the ban on assault weapons helped lower mass shootings, as well as violent crimes. There is no reason why a civilian in the United States needs an AR-15. No reason at all. There are plenty of firearms that can be used for both hunting and for protection, and weapons of war are unnecessary. The majority of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents all say that they could support a future ban on assault weapons. Why are government leaders, who have vowed to protect us, hesitating to create gun safety regulations in order to prevent harmful people from obtaining assault weapons?

Another method to protect students from school shootings is to ban high-capacity magazines. The banning of these magazines will decrease the number of fatalities that a potential shooter could inflict during a mass shooting. Through a bill in Congress, the government could ban these magazines from reaching those that wish to commit gun violence. There is another program that has been used in certain states across the country and it is known as the “red-flag” law. Red Flag laws are legislation that allows family members to petition judges to temporarily remove firearms from the possession of a relative whom they believe may inflict harm on others. Red Flag laws have been implemented in more than 19 states, and a study from Everytown for Gun Safety, which states that 54% of shootings were related to domestic or family violence. With the red flag law to remove guns from the hands of those who are not mentally or emotionally fit, some of the lives that were lost could have been prevented. One last preventive measure that could be taken to stop school shootings would be to train teachers to be on the lookout for violent behavior. Studies show that the majority of school shooters are actually students that attend the schools they are deciding to target. In Germany, a study showed that if teachers were trained to identify behaviors that are common with school shooters, it can help prevent the shooting from even taking place. Through this method, 19 school shootings were prevented in Germany. The solution to this problem is fewer guns, not more. We need leaders who will keep us safe, not those who will bow down to the gun rights industry.

Those on one side of the issue have suggested a solution that they believe would help solve the problem: arming teachers. A study by Harvard illustrates when there are more guns in a situation, there will inevitably be more death. When there are laws that allow teachers and civilians to concealed carry, statistically there is an increase in crime, particularly violent crime. A cross-national study in the United States conducted by the American Academy for Pediatrics showed that when there are more weapons, especially guns in a school, there will be more injuries and hospitalization. In fact, the day after the March for Our Lives protest, President Trump suggested the idea that arming teachers in schools could be a good way to protect students. Then, a teacher in California accidentally shot their student during a safety lesson. The idea of arming teachers would not work, placing those who are trained to do one profession attempting to do another, would just end up in more injury. Statistically speaking, the only solution that would work is tighter gun safety measures, not expanding the rights of firearm users. Additionally, President Trump suggested that banning violent video games would help prevent students from coming up with ideas about school shootings. Dr. Patrick Murphy, an associate professor at Villanova University stated that only 20% of school shooters expressed interest in violent video games, while in the general population of high schoolers, about 70% do. This idea is completely absurd and would not work to help curb mass school shootings. We must address our leaders, and let them know to stop stalling, and actually come up with a solution to a problem that is taking innocent young lives.

One last argument that has been placed to prevent school shootings is to boost security at schools. This has been completely disproven, and having additional security will not be effective if there are heavily armed students or even adults trying to inflict harm on those who go to the school. A popular conservative argument about this issue is that it is the “person, not the gun”. An analogy could be that in a car crash, it is the person but not the car, but if the person did not have the car, it would not have taken place. The United States Federal Court system has already ruled that citizens have the right to bear arms, but does not preclude “sensible regulation”. This is the same thing with most other amendments, such as how the First Amendment does not allow people to defame others. There are rules and regulations that must be followed when using and buying a gun that will protect human lives. A problem with the gaining of a gun is the process of gun shows. The Gun Show Loophole is when a prospective buyer goes to a gun show to buy a gun, not subject to any regulations in the process of buying a firearm. 50-75% of guns purchased at a gun show are not subject to a background check, allowing people who wish to do harm with a firearm to obtain one without regulation. This has not been outlawed by state governments. Only 13/50 states in the United States mandate a background check for all gun purchases, while an even lower number has a waiting period for the sale of firearms, only 10. These periods give states additional time to complete background checks regarding obtaining a firearm. If we enacted common-sense gun safety measures such as implementing background checks, closing the Gun Show Loophole, and passing an Assault Weapons Ban, we could save lives. Elected officials who oppose these common-sense measures should be swiftly voted out of office.

Roughly 37,000 Americans are killed each year by shootings. If we closed these loopholes that allow people who do not need guns to gain access, we could save many lives that will be taken in the future. If you are a responsible gun owner, you should be able to keep your guns and exercise your Second Amendment rights; however, these measures are intended to prevent bad people from gaining access to weapons. With these five measures, 146/167 mass shootings could have been prevented since 1996 that took 1,202 lives and resulted in 1,962 injuries: The closing of the Gun Show Loophole, Safe gun storage requirement, Assault Weapons Ban, Mandatory Background checks, and the Red flag law. Think about it. If we had these measures in place after every mass shooting that occurred, lives would have been saved. Call your representatives and find out if they are for or against these measures. If they are more interested in re-election than your life, it is probably time to make a change. We must feel safe in places of instruction and ensure we have a safe place to learn. Take charge to protect yourself and the ones you love. Protect our right to live.

Edited By: Khushi Patel

Posted: June 22, 2020

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