Advocates are urging more action against school shootings in 2025, saying the only way to slow the bloodshed is through a combination of efforts from lawmakers, schools and parents.
Trackers have counted an increase in school shootings over the past year, and experts have called for solutions ranging from violence prevention programs to firearm safety at home.
Under a unified Republican administration, where substantive action on gun control is unlikely, a multipronged approach may be the only way to bring real change to school shootings.
“Don't get me wrong, these are not left-right issues, these are life-or-death issues. As 2025 begins, we cannot stop our progress in states across the country. Because when it comes to the leading causes of death among young people, nothing stands in our way,” said Sarah Bird Sharps, director of research at Everytown. gun safety.
Counting the number of school shootings in a given year can be difficult because organizations use different definitions of such incidents and obtain data from different sources.
education week school shooting trackerAlthough it only counts incidents that occur during school hours or school-sponsored events, it found that in 2024 there will be 39 shootings, resulting in 18 deaths and 59 injuries. These incidents were higher than in 2023 but lower than in 2022.
However, Everytown is always on the lookout for shots fired on school grounds, even if no one is injured or killed. group recorded Last year, there were 219 shootings on the premises, resulting in 59 deaths and more than 160 injuries.
“I would say that shootings have certainly increased by more than 30 percent in the last year, which is especially concerning at a time when violent crime across this country is on the decline,” Byrd-Sharps said.
“Last school year saw the second highest number of shootings since we started tracking 10 years ago, and the highest number was right after students returned from the pandemic.” […] These mass shootings, both when someone is killed or injured and when there are school shootings, are extremely devastating in our country and actually cause a lot of trauma,” she said. added.
Her organization continues to advocate for an assault weapons ban and background checks on all firearm sales, but such ideas are going nowhere in Washington, where Republicans control the White House and both houses of Congress.
When it comes to school shootings, Republicans have focused on preventative measures such as arming teachers and armed security guards and fortifying most building doors so only one can be used as an entrance. Ta.
Following the 2022 massacre at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, which killed 19 children and two adults, Republican lawmakers, including then-Attorney General Ken Paxton, warned that schools should have “trained and armed teachers.” and other administrators.” . ”
As of April, newsweek map More than 30 states have announced that they allow teachers to carry guns on school grounds, either without restrictions or under certain circumstances.
However, these solutions are highly controversial.
“I don't think this is just about hardening the schools. And believe me, the school district doesn't have the funds to build fortifications that prevent injuries from firepower that civilians have access to.”,” said Abby Clements, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Teachers Unify to End Gun Violence.
“The data shows that states with stricter gun laws have less gun violence, which means people are safer in those states,” she added.
But there are some moves on this issue that have bipartisan support, such as violence prevention programs and empowering law enforcement to take preventive measures.
During the Trump administration, lawmakers passed the School Violence Prevention Act (STOP) with support from the Sandy Hook Promise organization.
“The STOP Act would make annual grants available to states, school districts, and tribal organizations to implement evidence-based programs and strategies to prevent violence in schools, addressing threats before tragedies occur. He is the CEO of Sandy Hook Promise and the father of Daniel, who was killed in the 2012 Newtown, Connecticut, shooting. said Mark Burden.
The group's new goal is to pass the Preparing Leaders to Assess Needs (PLAN) bill to help schools partner with experts to implement gun safety programs.
Experts are calling for increased vigilance at home as well.
In 2024, the parents of a Michigan school shooter will be sentenced to at least 10 years in prison for failing to properly lock up firearms and ignoring the teen's mental health issues. , the first legal judgment of its kind.
Collin Gray, the father of Georgia school shooter Colt Gray, has also been charged. Elder Gray pleaded not guilty in November to charges of second-degree murder, manslaughter and child abuse for ignoring his son's mental health issues and allowing him to purchase items such as ammunition and laser sights.
With the mental health of young people suffering from the pandemic and struggling to recover, there is an urgent need to encourage parents to lock up their firearms and keep them away from their troubled children.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has revealed that by 2023, 40 percent of high school students will have symptoms of depression. They also report an increase in bullying and threats with weapons.
“As we've seen, one of the things we can all do, and the one thing lawmakers can really get, is safe storage,” Clements said.
“Safe storage is a cultural shift that can have a huge impact on the statistics, given the dire situation where gun violence is the leading cause of death for children and teens in America. All we need to do to get out is to launch a culture change campaign where we lock up our guns and segregate. [from] It’s your ammunition,” she added. “We also need to have a law in place that says if you don't do these things and something happens in your home, you're responsible.”
