Imagine having to go to school every day, not knowing if that day would be your last. Imagine having to send your child or sibling to school, not knowing if they would return home alive. For many around the world, such scenarios are unfathomable; but unfortunately, for others, this “scenario” is a reality — a reality they cannot escape from.
On the day of the recent Uvalde shooting, my mother received a call from her friend that lives in the U.S., not anywhere close to the actual place of the shooting; nonetheless, haunted by the act. She told my mother, “I hugged my children extra tight and for longer before sending them to school today because I don’t know what might happen”. Now, these are the words of just one parent, but I’m sure they resonate with so many others, parents or not.
Let’s Talk Stats
The statistics of gun violence are alarming, to say the least.
Usually, countries that have a high rate of gun death tend to be on the developing or under-developing side. It is only the U.S., among the developed nations, that witnesses such high rates of gun violence [1] that it can be called an “epidemic”. Can this be blamed on the lack of gun reforms? Maybe.
According to the statistics published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2020, a vast majority of Americans died of gun-related injuries than in any other year on record [2]. 2020 was also the year where guns surpassed vehicle crashes, drug overdoses, and even cancer, to become the leading cause of death among children and teenagers in the U.S. [3] Age-adjusted firearm homicide rates in the U.S. are 13 times higher than that of France, and 22 times higher than that of the whole European Union [4].
We are only halfway through this year; but, according to the Gun Violence Archive, 246 mass shootings, an incident where four or more people have been shot or killed including the shooter, have already occurred in the U.S. this year alone, [5] with Education Weekly stating the occurrence of 27 school shootings so far this year. [6]
On the other side of the world is Japan, which sees less than a hundred gun-related deaths most years due to its highly restrictive regulations on firearms. The Japanese Firearm and Sword law permits only shotguns, air guns, guns with specific research or industrial purposes, or those used for competitions, provided formal instruction is obtained and a battery of written, mental, and drug tests, as well as a rigorous background check is passed by the individual wishing to obtain ownership. The owners must also provide their firearms for annual inspection and inform the authorities of how the weapons and ammunition are being stored [7].
Uvalde School Shooting
If I was to cover all the gun attacks, in the form of shootings or otherwise, that happened this year alone, this article would extend well over 20 pages, so let us talk about the most recent gun attack — the Uvalde school shooting. I was notified of this shooting through a Google news pop-up like most other happenings in the world; but, I have hardly felt fear consume me as it did when I saw this notification in particular. My mind immediately went to my cousins living in the States. At that moment, my brain seemed to forget the fact that they lived nowhere close to Texas; but when it did recall that detail, I was able to heave a sigh of relief. However, this cannot be said for the parents and family members of the students and teachers of Robb Elementary School, Uvalde, Texas.
The students were terrorized for over 77 minutes before the police took any action although there were multiple 911 calls asking the police to enter [8]. An 11-year-old survivor of the Uvalde school shooting testified that she covered herself in the blood of another student to trick the shooter into thinking she was dead [9]. I cannot even begin to imagine how traumatizing this is for her.
The Uvalde school shooting, which left 19 children and 2 teachers dead as well as 17 others injured, was carried out by Salvador Ramos, an 18-year-old student of Uvalde High School, who also died [10]. This shooting came just days after the deadly shooting in Buffalo, New York where an 18-year-old, fueled by racism, gunned down 10 black people. Buffalo Commissioner revealed that had he not been stopped, he would have continued his racially motivated attack in multiple other locations [11].
Response of Various Countries to Gun Violence
Mass shootings, although common in the States, are not uncommon to the rest of the world.
Following the Port Arthur massacre of 1996 in Australia, the government pushed through changes that were fundamental to the nation’s gun laws in less than 2 weeks. The National Agreement on Firearms prohibited automatic and semiautomatic assault rifles, mandated licensing and registration, instituted a temporary gun buyback program, and required licensees to demonstrate a “genuine need” for firearms as well as take a firearm safety course. As the result of another shooting in Melbourne in 2002, handgun laws in Australia were tightened as well. [12]
In March 1996, Dunblane, Scotland witnessed the deadliest mass shooting in U.K. history to date. The Parliament, within the next year, had banned private ownership of most handguns and semi-automatic weapons, and also made registration for shotgun owners mandatory. Since then, the U.K. has not witnessed another school shooting [13].
In 2019, New Zealand saw two consecutive shootings, and the country’s response was to collect thousands of weapons through a nationwide buyback, with lawmakers voting to ban almost all semi-automatic weapons. [14]
Canada also proposed new gun control laws following the aftermath of the deadly Uvalde school shooting. Although the new gun control laws do little to address gun crime, it is still a step in the right direction. [15]
Solutions to Gun Violence?
There is an old saying which calls schools a “second home”, a safe haven for learning, but when the very home starts feeling, no, becomes unsafe, why are the students still asked to go? One would think that after the infamous Columbine, Sandy Hook, and Parkland shootings, there would be tighter gun laws and regulations in place to prevent another such shooting, yet here we are.
Conducting drills in schools does not help the students any more than it scares them. Everyone thinks that a school shooting is only a possibility, not a surety, as is becoming these days.
We also need to keep in mind that this Uvalde shooting happened at an elementary school. A majority of the victims were children between 8 and 11 years old. Asking these kids to protect themselves against an armed gunman, who is not only older but also bigger than them, is really an overestimation and should not be the go-to option, moreso when heavily armed policemen themselves delayed confronting the gunman for over an hour to lower the risk to law enforcement officers [16]. Surely, the police have also undergone much more intensive training than these children have on the know-how of handling an active shooter situation, yet the fact that they waited for over an hour, while some students bled to death, tells us all we have to know about the usefulness of these drills.
It also does not help that in some states, such as Texas, individuals do not require a license to carry handguns in most public places, if they are not prohibited by the state or federal from possessing a gun [17]. Adding to this is the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling which found a New York law requiring residents to prove a “proper cause” to carry concealed firearms in public, to be in violation of the U.S. Constitution [18].
“Arming the schools and creating an armed fortress” does not help tackle the root cause of this problem — guns. Arming the school only leads to more guns being in circulation. Moreover, does the state possess enough funds to train teachers on the usage of firearms when they do not even have the funds to pay them for their work — when the teachers are being underpaid? [19] Further, the duty of a law enforcement officer should not fall on a teacher. As a teacher in Michigan stated, “I went to college to become a teacher, not a law enforcement officer” [20].
We must also keep in mind that gun violence does not always present itself in the form of shootings at an educational institute, a public, or religious place. One form of it is suicide by a firearm which accounts for nearly 60% of all firearm-related deaths in the U.S. [21] Another form is domestic violence. Studies indicate that there is nearly an eight-fold increased risk associated with gun ownership and homicide when the perpetrator is the intimate partner or a relative of the victim of domestic violence; and if the gun owner has a history of domestic violence, then the risk of homicide is 20 times higher [22]. Should we not try to prevent the ownership of firearms by these at-risk individuals by imposing gun control or restrictions?
Cases of police brutality also fall under the vast umbrella of gun violence. Statistics from Mapping Police Violence place 286 people who have been killed by the police in the U.S. in 2022 so far [23]. According to Amnesty International, around 1000 people are killed by the police in the U.S. every year, but nine U.S. states have no laws on the use of lethal force by law enforcement officers [24].
As of June 12, 2022, there have been proposals by U.S. senators that call for tougher background checks for gun buyers under the age of 21, increasing the states’ resources to keep weapons away from individuals deemed a risk and cracking down on illegal gun purchases, increasing the investment in mental health services and school safety resources, as well as including domestic violence convictions and restraining orders in the national background check database [25]. However, proposals only go so far and it is the implementation that matters.
Conclusion
“The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.” -Albert Einstein
During or after a devastating incident, I’ve often heard people saying, “Sending thoughts and prayers [your way]”. But like DaShanne Stokes said, “Thoughts and prayers won’t stop a speeding bullet”. It has been almost 2 years since my previous article on gun violence [26]; however, I am yet to see actionable reforms being made in controlling gun violence. I fail to understand why some individuals are against gun reforms, especially reforms concerning assault weaponry. I understand the needs of those individuals who want to arm themselves for self-defence, but my question to them is — do you really need an assault rifle for that purpose?
Firearms do not have to be banned altogether, but a reduction of firearms in circulation must be seen if we want to see a reduction in gun violence. This can be done by the implementation of actionable reforms such as increasing the age for the ownership of certain guns, banning assault rifles and high-capacity magazines, mandating a general gun safety course, performing a more intensive and thorough background check, and keeping firearms away from people deemed to be at risk either to themselves or to others through a possible psychological evaluation.
I would like to point out that just because certain restrictions exist, it does not necessarily mean that the State is imposing on your rights, or that these restrictions are “bad”. What we need to understand is that these restrictions exist to save lives — our lives. Think about it. If potential gun restrictions are infringing on our right to freedom, then so are safety belts, helmets, and speed limits.
Today, the victim was a person unknown to you, so you may not have an opinion. But can the same be said tomorrow or a few weeks on? With the way things are moving, unless we are able to control gun violence, that picture floating around the internet or depicted in newspapers might just be a victim known to you, or it might even be you.
Article by:
Editor-in-Chief,
In-charge of the editorial, ‘For The Record’,
PES MUN Society, RR Campus
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