Citation

Muller JM, Mahoney J, Tan K, Powell T. Child. Sch. 2022; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, National Association of Social Workers [USA], Publisher Oxford University Press)

DOI

10.1093/cs/cdac021

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

America has a gun problem. Shootings and other forms of gun violence have been continually rising over the past several decades; 2020 was a peak year for total gun deaths, with over 45,000 individuals dying from gun-related injuries (Gramlich, 2022). Since 2019, gun deaths have been the leading cause of death among young people aged 19 years and under, surpassing car accidents (Goldstick et al., 2022). According to the Gun Violence Archive, so far in 2022 the death toll by guns has already reached nearly 24,000, and over 300 mass shootings have been recorded (defined as events with four or more fatalities). Mass shootings have become more than a daily occurrence.

The world has watched as gun violence rippled across the United States, permeating our streets, our homes, our grocery stores, and, of course, our schools. On July 4, 2022, haunting footage was released of a band continuing to play as people ran from the sound of gunshots in the streets of Illinois's Highland Park parade, an incident that resulted in seven dead and 46 injured. In May 2022, a White supremacist attempted to livestream his murder of 10 Black persons in Tops Friendly Supermarket in Buffalo, New York, and just two weeks later 19 children, all under the age of 11, and two teachers were fatally shot in Uvalde, Texas. These unceasing waves of violence wrack our communities and show little sign of subsiding. Legislative responses to these horrific events have failed repeatedly despite ongoing public outcry for gun control and other violence prevention measures...

Language: en