Georgia school shooting puts gun control back in election spotlight

A student activist in Georgia who works for gun control said: Newsweek The Wednesday vote this November focused on safety concerns after four people were killed and nine injured at a high school in the state.

The shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder has drawn criticism from politicians who have begun offering “thoughts and prayers” — messages that gun safety advocates say are not enough.

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Sophie Chang, a volunteer with Students Demand Action, part of Everytown for Gun Safety, said the shooting was a “heartbreaking, heartbreaking, rage-inducing” experience for students across the United States.

“Our safety is on the agenda again this year,” Chang said. Newsweek“It’s very important that we look at future generations and what they will go through.

“If this is my generation, I can only imagine how much worse gun safety will get and how many shootings there will be if we continue to offer condolences and not act on them.”

Gun violence in schools is on the rise

The advocacy group Everytown reported in August that gun violence in schools had increased by 31% in the past year, and many school shooting perpetrators get their guns from their home or a relative’s home.

During the 2023-2024 school year, there were at least 144 reported gun violence incidents at schools across the United States

After the shooting occurred Wednesday, Chang, who lives 45 minutes away from the scene, started receiving messages from friends.

“I was just in shock,” Chang said. “There was a shooting in Atlanta a few months ago, and shootings happen all the time, but it took me a while to understand that something so brutal, so tragic could happen so close to home.”

The student is actively involved in gun safety campaigns and local politics. A few months ago, she met students from Apalachee.

“I know people at that school, I know people who could have easily been shot, could have been part of the death toll from gun violence, and it really shook me up and made me realize how real this is,” Chang added.

During the last session of the Georgia General Assembly, a committee was formed to propose rules for secure data storage; the first meeting was held a little over two weeks ago.

Georgia has some of the most liberal firearms laws in the country.

Chang said Newsweek that she witnessed numerous shooting threats at school.

“I think it really speaks to how easy it is to get a gun in Georgia, how easy it is to go to your dad’s office and pick up a gun that’s not securely locked or secured,” she said.

“It honestly breaks my heart how easy it is for these people to gain access to these firearms.”

Contrasting Reactions of Presidential Candidates

Vice President Kamala Harris called Wednesday’s shooting a “senseless tragedy” that adds to a string of other senseless tragedies as she opened a rally in New Hampshire hours after the incident.

The Democratic presidential candidate said he would continue to send prayers and thoughts to those affected by the tragedy, but also stressed that action was needed.

“It’s just outrageous that every day in the United States of America, parents have to send their children to school, worrying whether their child is going to come home alive,” Harris said. “We need to end this epidemic of gun violence in this country once and for all.”

Harris has floated the idea of ​​an assault weapons ban and universal background checks during her earlier campaign, but the Winder High School shooting has further highlighted the issue of gun control.

During her speech Wednesday afternoon, Harris said she was “going off script” and asked those in attendance if they had participated in active shooter drills. Many young voters raised their hands.

Harris said students should focus on learning and not be distracted by fear at the thought of a shooter bursting through the classroom door.

“This is one of the many issues at stake in this election,” Harris said before returning to her prepared remarks.

Republican Party candidate Donald Trump posted on Truth Social on Wednesday afternoon, hours after the shooting.

“Our hearts go out to the victims and loved ones of those affected by the tragic event in Winder, GA,” Trump said. “These beloved children were taken from us far too soon by a sick and crazy monster.”

Call for action from state and federal leaders

At the time of Trump’s tweet, little information was available about the shooter.

Authorities later released the identity of the alleged attacker – 14-year-old student Colt Gray, who was arrested by police and remains in custody.

“It’s been a month since school started, and we’re already facing fear that our children may not come home alive,” Karen Sedatole, a volunteer with Moms Demand Action’s Georgia chapter, said in a news release.

“Thoughts and prayers are empty and meaningless – we need our legislators to act. Pass sensible gun laws to protect our children so we don’t have to mourn empty seats at our tables.”

Earlier, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also condemned the shooting and called on Congress to take action.

“We need universal background checks and we need to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, require safe storage of firearms, invest in violence prevention programs and pass a national red flag law. Enough is enough,” Jean-Pierre told reporters.

Everytown estimates that about 54% of firearm owners do not lock all their firearms, and 4.6 million children live in a home where at least one firearm is unlocked.

The Republican Party’s 2024 platform rarely mentions firearms and gun control, and gun rights are mentioned only briefly when speaking about basic freedoms.

This is in contrast to the last version of the program in 2016, reused in 2020, which devoted an entire section to the Second Amendment.

Democrats, for their part, included an entire section devoted to countering the “scourge of gun violence,” which summarizes President Biden’s actions to address the problem starting in 2021.