Gun laws are responsible for school mass shootings in USA

By: Jesús Betin (level 6 English undergraduate student)

What would you do if a child started shooting a machine gun in your kid’s school? I imagine you would be devastated, or at the very least concerned for your kid’s safety. 

According to statistics provided by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), in the 19th and 20th century there were 253 school shootings. On the other hand, in the 21st century we have had about 254 school shootings so far this year (NCES, 2018). Even though we are only in the first twenty years of the 21st century, the numbers of these shootings is incredibly frightening. A study by the Harvard School of Public Health (2014) says that mass shooting incidents have tripled since 2011, and the government is not doing anything about it. From my point of view, I believe that USA gun laws are outdated, and must change in order to decrease the number of shootings.

Right now, the government's concern is almost non-existent. We can prove this point by looking at President Trump's declaration: “My message to young children is go and study really hard. Someday you will grow up and maybe do something fantastic. They have nothing to fear, they have nothing to worry about.” Perhaps the President does not want to cause problems for the gun industry by making sudden changes to the gun laws.

Even if the government does not decide to act, the impact of school shootings is real. Studies made by the National Center for PTSD, declared that 28% of people who witness a mass shooting develop post-traumatic stress, and one third develop short-term acute stress (Novotney, 2018).

This kind of issue affects children as much as it affects adults. According to Gallup, 20% of parents said that their children were afraid of attending school several months after the Parkland school shooting in February 2018. We can see then, that the repercussions are real.

To sum up, it is believed that school shootings are just a contemporary phenomenon, but it has been a problem since the 19th century. However, the number of shootings is constantly increasing, and so I think that Trump’s government ought to reinforce gun laws in order to prevent people from purchasing guns so easily. The government should also have a record of who buys what kind of firearm. Although these changes might be difficult for the gun industry, Americans are suffering psychological problems as a result of mass shootings all over the United States and that’s why they shall protest more about the strange gun law system that is taking the lives of human beings every year.


Bibliography:

• Amy Novotney (September,2018) What happens to the survivors. Recovered from: https://www.apa.org/monitor/2018/09/survivors
• C-Span (August 2019) Trump declaration about School Mass shootings. Recovered from: https://www.c-span.org/video/standalone/?c4812312/trump
• Harvard School of Public Health (2014). Mass shootings becoming more frequent. Recovered from: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-the-news/mass-shootings-becoming-more-frequent/
• Jones, J. (August 2018) More Parents, Children Fearful for Safety at School. Recovered from: https://news.gallup.com/poll/241625/parents-children-fearful-safety-school.aspx 
• National Center for Education Statistics (April 2019). Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2018. Recovered from: https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2019/2019047.pdf