When parents take their children to school, they should not have to think about it possibly being their last time seeing their precious child again. They should not have to debate whether they should buy their six-year-old child light up shoes because of the possibility it could make them an easy target.
But unfortunately, this is a real thing that parents have to keep in mind when they send their child to school. And when this tragedy happens repeatedly, there is nothing that people in power do except offer their “thoughts and prayers” — something that doesn’t do much to prevent future tragedies.
Over the thousands of gun related tragedies that occur every year, gun violence is the number one killer of children. Whether it be in neighborhoods, social gatherings, or schools, we have seen, throughout the years, an increase in school shootings: Sandy Hook (2012), Uvalde (2022), and most recently, Apalachee High School.
When these shootings happen, people all across the nation are quick to offer “thoughts and prayers to the family,” but this doesn’t offer nearly as much comfort as it would if a policy was made to change this unnecessary problem. Brett Cross, father of Uziyah Garcia, a Uvalde school shooting victim, told Texas lawmakers, “Your thoughts and prayers haven’t done anything in the 329 days since Uziyah was shot. Your thoughts and prayers are useless unless you have thought and prayed for legislation that you can help enact that could change this.”
Gun laws cannot be fixed in an instant, but if the people in power took action and did something other than saying those four words, it would make a difference and hundreds of parents wouldn’t have to go through the feeling of losing a child to gun violence.
Recently, anti-gun protesters have been using the case of the Apalachee shooting as a reason why stricter gun policies need to be enacted. The shooter’s father had bought a weapon for his child, despite his son making death threats and being pursued by the FBI before.
Why is it possible for a child with a history of FBI involvement to have access to a weapon? This highlights just how easy it is for kids to obtain firearms.
Although some states require parents to lock their weapons in safes and keep their weapons hidden from children, there will always be a minority that will do the opposite, and consequences can result from it.
To tackle this problem, many are calling for stricter, harsher background checks. This would make it more difficult for people to purchase a weapon, especially if they are unfit to own a firearm. Many people are also calling to ban assault weapons, as they are involved in the majority of school shootings. This solution is what many parents of school shooting victims want from lawmakers, as this was effective when former President Bill Clinton banned assault rifles during his term.
For real action to be taken, “thoughts and prayers” are not enough. Leaders, regardless of their stance on the Second Amendment, must ask themselves: are my political beliefs more important than the lives of children being tragically taken at school?
Sadly, it may take a major event for officials to finally decide that enough is enough and that children deserve to be safe in school — despite the many lives already lost before reaching that conclusion. The need for policies surrounding weapons is urgent and imperative.
Before another child is taken away from their parents, I hope we move beyond offering “thoughts and prayers” and take real, meaningful action to ensure it never happens again.
