Content 
warning: 
This 
article 
contains mention of gun violence.
I was in the fourth grade when 
Sandy Hook happened. There are 
some memories that remain vivid 
even as the days, months and years 
of your life start to mush together. 
Sandy Hook is a vivid memory for me, 
despite being a 10-year-old living 800 
miles away.
There are no words to describe the 
pain and horror you feel when your 
fourth grade teacher tells you that a 
group of elementary students, just 
like yourself, have been murdered 
in their classroom. Even if it is 
presented using more kid-friendly 
vernacular, you can’t mask the 
gruesomeness of someone killing 26 
people. I can still almost hear the kids 
in my class crying upon hearing the 
news that day. I still see the pictures 
of the victim’s faces projected on the 
whiteboard. I still feel the paper I was 
holding — a letter from our principal 
that we were told to take home to 
our parents, assuring them that 
our elementary school would take 
necessary safety measures, that their 
children would not be murdered. 
Most of all, I remember so many 
people saying “never again” — and I 
remember believing them. Because 
I was in fourth grade, and fourth-
grade students are supposed to be 
worried about what type of dessert 
their mom packed for lunch and 
passing their math test on division, 
not getting shot during class. 
It’s been almost ten years since 
Sandy Hook. It’s been ten years 
since the politicians proclaimed 
“never again” and promised to do 
something to protect us. Yet, on May 
24, 2022, a gunman murdered 19 
students and two teachers at Robb 
Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, 
robbing these bright, joyful kids of 
their futures. Now, as the country 
mourns alongside Uvalde while they 
cope with this indescribable loss, 
the urgency for common-sense gun 
control seems more vital than ever. 
Gun violence is ultimately a 
public health epidemic — one that 
disproportionately 
affects 
young 
people and people of Color. In fact, 
firearms are the leading cause of 
death for American adolescents. 
Black children and teens are 14 times 
more likely to die from gun homicide 

compared to white children of the 
same age. White supremacists, often 
radicalized by right-wing media, have 
repeatedly committed mass shootings 
targeting people of Color. These 
hate crimes undoubtedly become 
much deadlier when the perpetrator 
has access to firearms. Targeted 
attacks evoke constant psychological 
distress for marginalized groups, 
especially since white supremacists 
can easily acquire firearms legally 
in America. It is also important to 
remember that mass shootings only 
encompass a fraction of the victims 
of gun violence — which also include 
deaths from suicides, accidents, 
domestic violence, murders and other 
instances.
These high rates of gun violence 
are a uniquely American problem. 
The U.S. gun homicide rate is 25 
times that of other high-income 
countries, such as Canada, Japan and 
Spain. Nearly every American in their 
lifetime will know someone who is a 
victim of gun violence. So why is gun 
violence synonymous with America, 
and how has it become an “American 
issue?” While conservatives will try 
to pin mass shootings on violent video 
games, a decline in traditional family 
values or mental health problems, 
it is imperative to remember that 
all 
industrialized 
countries 
are 
facing similar issues — except these 
countries don’t have an absurd 
amount of guns in circulation with 
weak forms of gun control in place. 
It’s hard to pinpoint the exact number 
of privately owned guns in America 
without a federal database, but there 
are an estimated 390 million guns in 
the U.S. This number is likely higher 
due to the increase in gun sales 
during the COVID-19 pandemic, but 
the research is clear: More guns lead 
to increased gun homicides. 
With a major source of the 
problem — the number of guns and 
little regulation — being so clear, 
it is frustrating to see the lack of 
legislative reform on the federal level, 
especially when it has been shown 
at the state level that gun laws work. 
States with strong gun reform in 
place have seen less gun violence, and 
those without basic gun protection 
laws in place have an almost tripled 
amount of gun deaths compared to 
those that do. 
Gun reform can take many shapes. 
One of the most popular solutions is 
implementing universal background 
checks 
for 
firearm 
purchases, 

directly 
closing 
the 
Charleston 
loophole which allows gun sales 
to proceed after three days, even if 
the background check has not been 
completed. This alone is predicted 
to reduce firearm deaths from 10.3 to 
4.46 per 100,000 people. Additionally, 
many policymakers have implored 

the idea of banning assault weapons 
and bump stocks, which make mass 
shootings 
significantly 
deadlier. 
There is also sufficient evidence that 
supports mandating gun licenses, 
which would require gun owners to 
obtain a permit before purchasing 
a gun. In Missouri, the elimination 
of their permit to purchase law led 
to a 25% increase in gun homicide 
rates. Congress should also lift the 
funding restrictions on gun violence 
research. Based on mortality rates 
alone, gun violence research should 
have received $1.4 billion in federal 
research funds. However, due to the 
National Rifle Association-backed 
legislation, the Center for Disease 
Control and other federal agencies, 
gun violence research only received 
$22 million, 1.6% of the projected 
amount. Thousands of studies are 
waiting to be conducted to find the 
most effective forms of gun reform, 
yet they will never come to fruition 
due to the limited budget allocated by 
Congress.
Since Sandy Hook, my childhood 
can be marked by a long string of 

seemingly 
never-ending 
school 
shootings. I have had normalized 
conversations with my teachers and 
peers about what we would do if a 
gunman came into our classroom 
and tried to kill us. In my sixth-grade 
history class, my teacher told us 
during our active shooter drill that 

the best place to hide was behind 
the trifold presentation boards we 
made earlier in the semester. In 
my 10th-grade chemistry class, my 
teacher told us to throw glass beakers 
at the gunman. And in my 11th-grade 
band class, my instructor told us that 
our instruments might be able to 
deflect bullets. The practice was so 
ingrained in me, I had to step back 
and realize that only in America are 
students taught how to optimize 
school supplies as weapons of self-
defense.
Despite all this “training,” I still 
don’t feel any safer going to school. 
What would make me feel safer is gun 
control — because it’s proven to work. 
Countries like Britain, Australia, 
Canada, New Zealand and Norway 
had mass shootings, proceeded to 
tighten their gun laws and saw a sharp 
decrease in gun violence. And the 
majority of U.S. voters are in favor of 
it. That’s why, like many Americans, 
I am so angry at the clear disconnect 
between voters and legislators that is 
leading to a major gap in necessary 
gun restriction policy. I’m angry 

that, despite shooting after shooting, 
Republican politicians block gun 
control to sell out American lives 
for NRA donations. I’m angry at 
establishment 
Democrats, 
who 
fundraise off these massacres only 
to readily give up when Republicans 
refuse to comprise. How many people 

have to die, how many shootings have 
to occur, for gun reform to become a 
priority for politicians?
If the events that transpired in 
Uvalde, Texas are anything like 
the others, the media will move on, 
politicians will move on and, unless 
the Senate can come to a bipartisan 
agreement on gun control, Americans 
will be left without any substantive 
reform. But I urge you not to feel 
hopeless — the NRA wants you to 
become jaded and compliant. In fact, 
Peter Ambler, political director at the 
gun control advocacy group Giffords, 
said, “One of the broader barriers (to 
gun reform) is hopelessness, which 
is the NRA’s chief political product 
… they use hopelessness to stymie 
progress.” So as the others move on 
from Uvalde and countless other 
mass shootings go unreported, I 
urge you to support communities 
affected by gun violence, remember 
the victims and fight for gun reform. 
I urge you to fight to fix this broken 
political system that halts progress 
and allows for these mass shootings 
to happen over and over again. 

The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Michigan in Color
6 — Wednesday, June 15, 2022
The children who grew up in a generation of school 
shootings have grown up. And we demand gun reform

ABBY SCHRECK/TMD

MAYA KOGULAN 
MiC Columnist

