OPINION: The urgency of gun reform: A call to protect students and communities | Opinion

On Sept. 5, four individuals were killed and nine injured in a shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, GA. Being just 40 minutes from Athens, the lost lives of the students and teachers has left a hole in the hearts of many.

There are chilling accounts of student’s experiences circulating on TikTok, such as Abby Ayers. She recounted hearing gunshots while hiding in a bathroom stall, having a gun pointed directly at her and seeing bloody handprints on the school walls.

Recent history of gun reform in the U.S.

In 1994, an assault weapons ban was passed in Congress with bipartisan support. The act applied to specific categories of semi-automatic weapons such as AR-15’s and prohibited sales only after the act was signed into law. The ban lasted 10 years, expiring in 2004, as part of the bill’s “sunset provision”. According to a study done by researcher Michael J. Klein, mass shootings decreased in the 10 years following the federal assault weapons ban, and spiked again when the ban expired. The assault weapons ban, bill S.25, was reintroduced last year, but has still made no movement in Congress.

In recent years, firearms were the leading cause of death among children 1-17 years old in the U.S. In 2022, President Biden signed the most significant gun safety bill into law in decades, the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. The bill was signed following the Robb Elementary School shooting, which claimed the lives of 19 children in Uvalde, Texas, during what became the second-highest year of mass shootings. The act includes comprehensive background checks, red flag laws, crisis intervention programs and requires gun sellers to register as Federally Licensed Firearm Dealers.

This year, the Consolidated Appropriations Act was signed into law. The bill allocates $50 million to violence intervention and prevention initiatives and reauthorizes the Undetectable Firearms Act for another seven years. However, the bill defunds the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, an agency which plays a critical role in ensuring community safety from gun violence.

There is still a lot to be done. Everytown for Gun Safety offers innovative solutions that I urge lawmakers to incorporate into gun reform legislation.

The contradiction between pro-life stances and opposition to gun control

Many pro-life advocates are also advocates of the right to carry. Many gun control advocates, including myself, support responsible gun ownership for self-protection. This is as long as the firearms are stored safely. However, there is no need for anyone, especially a minor, to possess an AR-15 outside the military.

Being pro-life while also opposing background checks and other measures to protect children in schools highlights a clear inconsistency. Prioritizing access to firearms over access to abortion, or focusing on banning books rather than guns in schools is contradictory. There is a clear disconnect from the true meaning of being pro-life. Again, we see MAGA politicians attempting to push their personal agenda onto others–whether that be with the implementation of religious curriculum in public schools, forcing women to carry to term or banning books.

Voting in the upcoming presidential election

We need common sense gun laws to protect our children, students and teachers. Parents should not be scared of sending their children off to school, teachers should not fear for their lives while going to work and students should not have to say their goodbyes and “I love you’s” shakily over text while hiding under desks.

As she stated in the debate last Tuesday, Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz are both gun owners. Harris does, however, support stricter gun laws. She threw her support behind Biden as he signed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act in 2022 and has overseen the Office of Gun Violence Prevention since it was established in 2023. In 2018, after the Parkland, Florida school shooting, Harris urged states to pass “red flag” laws while former President Donald Trump suggested arming school staff as a solution.

Trump has sent mixed signals with his stance on gun reform. In a private conversation with the U.S. Senator Chris Murphy, Trump expressed his support for universal background checks, suggesting that he was going to be the first president to step up and get a comprehensive background check bill passed.

Nonetheless, after meeting with the NRA two days later, he changed his position and stated he no longer supported universal checks. Instead, he signed the Fix NICS Act into law, which was still aimed at improving background checks–just not universally. The Trump administration has been instrumental in bills such as the Bipartisan Background Checks Act and Enhanced Background Checks Act of 2019, stalling in the Republican-held Senate by suggesting that Trump would likely veto both bills if they reached his office.

Trump is indecisive and inefficient on real, important issues that affect voters. Mixed signals is not something we can afford when so many people’s lives are at stake.

As a student voter from Georgia, I was disappointed that the question of gun reform was not posed by the moderators during the presidential debate Tuesday, especially in light of the Apalachee school shooting. Although I wish Harris would be more outspoken about gun reform in her campaign platform, I recognize that reviewing her and Biden’s track record gives me the insight needed to make an educated vote.

I urge you to make an informed decision in this upcoming election and to vote in person and early if you are able. You can register to vote here.