By Liliana Rodriguez
“If you’re from America, why haven’t you been in a school shooting yet?”
When my friend Joelly moved to New Zealand, a classmate asked her this — not sarcastically, but with genuine concern. That simple question exposes the grim reality of how gun violence has shaped America’s reputation around the world. The United States desperately needs wiser firearm policies to reduce violence and protect public safety.
Each year, about 46,728 Americans die as a result of gun violence — 27,300 of those deaths are suicides, 17,927 are homicides, and hundreds are the product of unintentional or law enforcement-related incidents. More than 128 people die from guns every 24 hours, a rate far higher than that of any other developed nation. A recent CDC report identifies firearms as one of the top five causes of death in Americans under the age of 44. And surprisingly, firearm suicide rates are highest among adults 75 years and older. But statistics alone cannot capture the fear that permeates daily life.
“I am scared of shootings and know the nearest exit in every classroom,” says Highland Park senior Biviyana Bhattarai, who also knows where the Stop the Bleed kits are and how to use them. Another student told me that her younger sister’s school was once listed as a shooting target. “What use are locked doors against automatic guns?” she asked. These fears reflect those of an entire generation that has grown up with survival plans instead of safety. If other countries can protect their students, why can’t we?
Other nations have proven that change is possible. After the 1996 Port Arthur Massacre, Australia enacted sweeping firearm reforms, including mandatory buybacks, background checks, and bans on certain semi-automatic weapons. As a result, Australia did not experience another mass shooting for 29 years. However, the recent Bondi Beach mass shooting has renewed national conversations about public safety and prompted calls to further tighten Australia’s existing gun laws. In Japan, citizens undergo background checks, mental health evaluations and police inspections before owning a gun, and must renew their licenses every three years. The result? Fewer than 10 gun deaths annually in a country of over 125 million people. The United Kingdom and New Zealand have taken similar steps, keeping gun violence rates far below ours. More comprehensive laws lead to safer societies.
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Yet many Americans still believe guns equal safety. A 2013 CDC study found that guns are used in self-defense about 500,000 times a year. But having a gun in the home also increases the risk of accidental death, suicide, or homicide. What many perceive as protection often ends in tragedy. Understanding this gap between perception and reality is key to moving forward with effective reform.
History shows that education and sensible regulation can save lives. In the 1970s, parents opposed mandatory child car seat laws, calling them an infringement on freedom — until education campaigns revealed how many children had died in car accidents. Once people understood the stakes, the laws became common sense. Gun safety requires the same approach.
A child or teen is killed by a gun in the U.S. every two hours and 48 minutes — almost 12 young people every day. Between 2013 and 2022, gun-related deaths among children ages 1 to 17 increased by 106 percent. Since Columbine in 1999, there have been more than 390 shootings in K–12 schools. Nearly 4.6 million children live in homes where at least one gun is loaded and unlocked. Protecting children from preventable death is not a violation of liberty — it’s a moral duty.
We can take immediate steps through universal background checks, mandatory waiting periods, safe storage laws, and red flag measures that temporarily remove firearms from those at risk of harm.
Gun violence should never be an accepted part of the American identity. No one should have to wonder if they’ll make it home from school, work, or the grocery store. It’s time for lawmakers and citizens alike to treat this crisis as the national emergency it is. Protecting lives must always come before protecting weapons.
Highland Park High School senior Liliana Rodriguez is a varsity softball player, member of the Lads and Lassies, and participant in The Lazy Feminists podcast, which is available on Spotify. She hopes to major in film. Her piece is one in a series from students in the Moody Advanced Professional Studies modern media course. Visit peoplenewspapers.com to read opinion essays by juniors Noah Santoyo and Lane Pope that appeared in Park Cities People’s December and January issues.
