There has been 144 school shootings, in 2024 alone, in America. There have been countless threats to schools all over the country. There have been over 107 injuries and fatalities combined.
Is this America, or is this a living hell?
Gun violence activity has skyrocketed significantly more this year than in previous years and nobody is attempting to change the laws. Little children around the country have been taught how to go on lockdown in case a “bad guy” enters the building. There are bulletproof safe rooms being built inside classrooms to prevent a shooter from getting into the classrooms and reaching the students. More than 30 states are allowing teachers to carry guns in their classes for certain occasions.
All these precautions, but the government still can’t change the gun laws so that they are only available to those in the law enforcement. The people in law enforcement need guns or weapons for their job and duty, and they can be trusted, a random person cannot. Having a permit for a gun does not mean that they should be handed out to one like toys.
It’s important to understand everyone’s point of view to fully understand it. So I interviewed some students on campus.
“Do you think it’s bad that schools keep making more precautions instead of the government just changing gun laws?”
Here’s what Sunmeet Singh, a junior at Pitman High School says:
“I don’t think that the laws are the problem because if we go back to the past, the laws were the same but there were less shootings. I believe that it’s just because of the people, so there should be better background checks on people before we just hand them guns.”
According to Sunmeet, the laws aren’t the problem, people are. His viewpoint is understandable because some people only own guns for self protection, or they need it for jobs.
School shootings are an international issue, but they occur in places right next to us. In Turlock, California, there have been shooting threats to our own school, Pitman High School, Turlock Junior High, and schools all around our town. We tend to brush past these cases because they are not credible, but we can never be too sure.
“Do you think stricter gun laws would reduce violence in America?”
Here’s what Nimrat Brar, a sophomore at Pitman High School, says about this topic:
“Yes, because the harder it is to get guns, the less people would want them. People don’t want to go through all that trouble just to get a gun, and it would reduce gun violence.”
Her answer is agreeable, most people are easily able to get guns so if they were harder to achieve, people would not go through all that trouble. What makes it easy for people to get guns, is the slept on laws. People get guns just from having a valid driver’s license and passing a background check.
At the end of the day, gun violence will not stop until we stop it. Robb Elementary, Sandy Hook Elementary, Columbine High School, and hundreds more, did not deserve what happened to them. People will not stop unless we stop them. It doesn’t matter who the president is, if neither of them will make a change. Change gun laws, change America.