Tragedy Must Spur Action

We are outraged. We are heartbroken. But we are not surprised.

Yesterday, a mass shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde Texas resulted in the murder of 19 children and 2 adults. This type of news story is common in America — just last week 10 people were gunned down in a racist attack at a Buffalo supermarket. While mass shootings like these capture public attention, they are just a fraction of the violence done to our communities. Gun violence is now the leading cause of death for children, and Black communities are disproportionately impacted.

Decades of public health research confirms that the answer is fewer guns, and stricter gun laws that include universal background checks and a ban on assault weapons — yet somehow once again, it seems unlikely that any major changes will be made at a federal level to reverse decades of policies that have made it easier to own a gun than to get a driver’s license.

All children deserve to feel safe at school, and all parents deserve to feel safe sending them there. Gun violence is a student health issue, and the answer is not more armed police in schools, or arming teachers, or more active shooter drills. 

Healthy Schools Campaign has always believed that the best ideas for helping keep kids safe and healthy must be backed up with common sense policies that emphasize prevention. Our schools and communities will continue to face unthinkable losses from gun violence until our national and state level policies address the amount and types of weapons that have flooded our nation.