On September 4, 2024, 14-year-old Colt Gray walked into Apalachee High School with an AR-15, murdering four people and hospitalizing nine. Unfortunately, Apalachee High School is only one of 45 schools that have suffered mass shootings in America THIS YEAR. The big question that many students and teachers have is how many dead children are enough dead children for something to change in this country?
When the rampant gun violence in America is brought up, it is usually met with the argument that the second amendment gives citizens the right to bear arms and protect their families, and gun control would infringe on that right. This makes sense until people realize that their preschool-age children now need to be taught how to hide under their desks in case someone comes into their school with an automatic weapon and intent to kill. No one is suggesting that Americans get rid of guns altogether, but at this point, it is clear that there are too many people who cannot control themselves, and the gun laws as they are now are not sustainable. It is time for lawmakers to choose children over guns.
There are some statistics about mass shootings that are too often overlooked when really they should be studied more. From 1966 to the present, 97% of mass shooters have been men, and in 81% of k-12 school shootings, the perpetrator was white. Looking into the minds of mass shooters, most were in a serious mental crisis and the mass shooting was their form of suicide. Many perpetrators even showed obvious signs of distress long before the shooting, including experiencing more agitation, exhibiting abusive behaviors, mood swings and a loss of reality, but what causes the school shooters to opt for this almost genocidal act is still not studied enough. Women are almost twice as likely to be diagnosed with depression, yet they rarely choose to take their emotions out on innocent children. Based on these statistics, there are some almost obvious actions that need to be taken. The first is making it harder for men in crises to access guns. This could be done by requiring psychological evaluations and a course on the effects of gun violence on a community.
It is abundantly clear that America has a serious gun violence issue that threatens the lives of every child in public school. There needs to be more regulation for gun owners, every child deserves for their school to be a safe place.
