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Vanessa Ortiz

Dr. Sharity Nelson

ENGL 1302 101

05 December 2022

It’s Time to Put An End to School Shootings

Introduction

The United States is a country that is well known for the gun violence that occurs at

schools. However, this isn’t a good thing and something should be done to put a stop to this. An

article highlights, “Gun control is a volatile hot button issue, almost as controversial as

reproductive rights. It is no secret that gun violence is epidemic here in the United States, and the

rest of the world views us like a 21st century Dodge City” (Brenzenski 37). This indicates that

the United States is perceived as a nation with no strategy for addressing the gun issue in many

parts of the world. Because of this, there has been a rise in movements and conversations on how

to keep schools safe. Scholars have yet to determine what is the best solution to preventing

school shootings from happening. An article talks about the different solutions people think of

when it comes to stopping these kinds of situations from happening like arming school teachers

or taking away all guns from school (Jonson 263-290). Many debates can arise especially when

politicians start getting involved and putting their own views on the conversation. For example,

when the Sandy Hook shooting happened President Obama stated, “guns are a force multiplier

that dramatically increases the potential for carnage” (Eckstein & Partlow Lefevre 228). In

response, this paper argues that stricter gun laws should be placed in the United States because it

ensures the safety of students, teachers, and schools in general.

Raising the Age and Arming School Teachers

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The current laws the United States has placed on guns are not very strict at all. The policy

states that the age for someone to obtain an assault rifle in the United States is 18 years old.

Many citizens have issues with this and want to raise it to 21 years old. For example, Emma

Fridel studied, “Prior work has consistently shown that firearm ownership and usage is more

prevalent in disorganized, violent communities, increasing accessibility to underage youth”

(603). Guns shouldn’t be available to kids since they are not in the right mind state to own a gun,

so what’s to say that an 18-year-old is capable of bearing arms? In most parts of the United

States, the age of 18 is known as a “legal” age where people are considered adults. However,

many people at this age are still in high school and not mature enough to be able to own a gun.

Politicians have voiced their opinions on this as well. For instance, an article stated how after the

Parkland Shooting in 2018, the Florida state legislature increased the minimum age for obtaining

firearms, outlawed bump stocks that convert semi-automatic rifles into automatic weapons,

instituted waiting periods for the majority of handgun transactions, and budgeted millions for

community-based mental healthcare (Brezenski 38). This is one of the few cases that showed

officials actually springing into action and doing something to change the policy and prevent

another mass school shooting from happening. Action needs to be taken, and the government

needs to take into account that if an 18-year-old is old enough to buy alcohol, then they shouldn’t

be able to buy a weapon that is meant to be used on the battlefield.

On the other hand, many people believe that arming teachers in school will resolve the

problem. For example, Rebekah Elliot talked in an article about how 34 states submitted more

than 80 pieces of legislation with wording aimed explicitly at arming educators in K–12 public

schools (533). This emphasized how many states believed that by giving school employees a

gun, they would be better protected in case a shooter attacks the school. However, there are also
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many downfalls to this. In another article, it is stated, “With no national standard to serve as a

guide, discretion is left to states…to determine who, if anyone, will be armed…and what

training, if any, teachers and/or staff will have to undergo before carrying a gun into the school”

(Jonson et al. 265). There isn’t much of a plan when it comes to the discussion of arming

educators in schools. Basically, showing how it could potentially be a bad idea. Not many

teachers have much experience with guns, and they are going to need training. Since most school

shooters in the past have been students (Fridel 598), a gun in every classroom wouldn’t be the

greatest solution for this. They will know where the gun is located, making this plan more

dangerous for students and teachers.

Yes or No?

There are endless debates from both sides on whether or not there should be stricter gun

regulations because of school shootings (Rood 64). Ever since the Columbine Shooting in 1999,

there have been continuous opinions thrown around about gun reform from different politicians

and media. For instance, when the Sandy Hook shooting happened, “President Obama urged

Congress to act to prevent future mass school shootings and curb gun violence in general”

(McQuiller 5). The bills that the Senate tried to pass failed, and the NRA responded with, “the

only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun” (McQuiller 6). Even though,

the President wanted to see a change in the law, many others opposed to it. In another situation,

some students started a movement after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas shooting called the

“#NeverAgain movement” which aims to reduce school shootings by enacting stronger gun

control laws that restrict the types of weapons available and who may own them (Jonson 264).

This movement emphasized how passionate the victims affected by the shooting were about
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seeing change happen. They did not want anyone else to have to live through the same trauma as

they did that day.

Although many citizens want a change in buying guns, many others do not see guns as

the problem. An article states, “Responsibility lies elsewhere: Gun violence is a problem of evil,

or terrorism, or mental illness, or economic inequality, or inadequate law enforcement, or

something else” (Rood 47). People who are opposed to gun control believe that the person

buying the gun is the big threat in these scenarios. However, this also shows how there should be

stronger laws and background checks when buying an assault rifle. It could easily prevent an

individual that is not in the right mind from buying one. Another article stated, “While these bills

show that state legislatures recognize the importance of school safety, their primary focus is on

guns” (Elliot 532). A lot of the time, government officials are opposed to the idea of improving

gun control because it interferes with the second amendment. Although that can be true to a

certain extent, they are too focused on what will happen to guns rather than seeing the whole

picture. That picture being that students and teachers are at risk of losing their lives because

these laws are not being changed. People against gun control need to understand that kids are

being traumatized hearing about school shootings with statements like, “I got a little bit scared

because I didn’t want that to happen in my school” (Bonnano 180). Kids need to feel safe in

school and be excited to learn new things, not scared of being the next headline on the news.

Conclusion

Overall, the topic of gun violence and school shootings will continue happening until a

change has been made. In order for a school to be considered a safe environment, the laws on

guns need to change and become stricter. Parents should not be afraid of dropping their kids off

at school or that it might be the last time they ever see them again. They should feel comfortable
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knowing that their child is getting an education. Instead, because of these situations happening,

kids are practicing where to hide in case a shooting were to happen. These practices are called

“lockdown drills,” and research has shown how terrifying they are even if they are not active

shooter situations (Bonnano 180). Kindergarten teachers have to explain to their small students

that it is like an “evil fairy” that wants to do bad things in order for them to understand why they

have to hide (Bonanno 180). The nation hears the stories so often that it’s starting to become a

“normal” thing for the United States, but this is far from normal. Change needs to happen, and it

should have happened yesterday. It should have happened the day after the first school shooting

occurred in the United States. “The goals of the task force were simple and straightforward: Stop

the gun violence from semi-automatic rifles… in the U.S. and make our schools safe again”

(Brezenski 37). Brenzenksi presents this information about the goal, but nothing has happened

since Columbine, Sandy Hook, Parkland, etc. of the goal ever being achieved. Just recently, the

United States suffered another school shooting in Texas where 19 children and 2 teachers were

murdered. It is time to put an end to losing teachers trying to protect their students. It is time to

put an end to students running for their lives because a school shooter is going after them. It is

time to put an end to school shootings.

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Work Cited

Bonanno, Rebecca, et al. “Children’s Experiences with School Lockdown Drills: A Pilot Study.”

Children & Schools, vol. 43, no. 3, 2021, pp. 175–185. Academic Search Ultimate,

https://doi.org/10.1093/cs/cdab012.

Brezenski, Thomas. “Inside the 23rd Congressional District (FL) Gun Violence Task Force:

Real-Time Crisis Policymaking in the Wake of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas School

Shootings.” Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, vol. 10, no. 1-2, 2018, pp. 35-49.

Academic Search Ultimate, https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=asn&AN=130633633&scope=site

Eckstein, Justin, and Sarah T. Partlow Lefevre. “Since Sandy Hook: Strategic Maneuvering in

the Gun Control Debate.” Western Journal of Communication, vol. 81, no. 2, 2017, pp.

225–242. Academic Search Ultimate, https://doi.org/10.1080/10570314.2016.1244703.

Elliott, Rebekah. “The Real School Safety Debate: Why Legislative Responses Should Focus on

Schools and Not on Guns.” Arizona Law Review, vol. 57, no. 2, 2015, pp. 523–550.

Academic Search Ultimate, https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=asn&AN=102813538&authtype=sso&custid=s9609537

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Fridel, Emma E. “The Contextual Correlates of School Shootings.” JQ: Justice Quarterly, vol.

38, no. 4, 2021, pp. 596–625. Academic Search Ultimate,

https://doi.org/10.1080/07418825.2019.1666907.

Jonson, Cheryl Lero, et al. “An Apple in One Hand, a Gun in the Other: Public Support for

Arming Our Nation’s Schools.” Criminology & Public Policy, vol. 20, no. 2, 2021, pp.

263–290. Academic Search Ultimate, https://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9133.12538.

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McQuiller, Michael V. “Enough Is Enough: Congressional Solutions To Curb Gun Violence In

America’s K-12 Schools.” DePaul Journal of Social Sciences, vol. 12, no. 1, 2019, pp.1-

21. Academic Seach Ultimate, https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=asn&AN=135097126&authtype=sso&custid=s9609537

&scope=site.

Rood, Craig. “‘Our Tears Are Not Enough’: The Warrant of the Dead in the Rhetoric of Gun

Control.” Quarterly Journal of Speech, vol. 104, no. 1, 2018, pp. 47–70. Academic

Search Ultimate, https://doi.org/10.1080/00335630.2017.1401223.