FROM TRAGEDY TO CHANGE: A RALLYING CRY FOR AMERICA
WYHMN Student Team Members speak out about this week's gun violence in Texas and Florida
SCHOOL SHOOTINGGUN SAFETYYOUNG VOICESGUN VIOLENCE
Sarita
4/19/20252 min read
Recently, Texan high schoolers saw the ordinary hum of their lives shatter when 17-year-old Tracy Haynes Jr. fired a gun on their school campus, injuring several students. Two days later, Florida State University (FSU) students were forced to grapple with the same life-altering experience: 20-year-old Phoenix Ikner walked onto campus and shot and killed two people, injuring five others. Unfortunately, these incidents are becoming less and less rare; it is far too frequent that a new headline breaks the news that someone opened fire to the public. As a student myself, I can’t help but worry. For governments, schools are supposed to be sacred. For students, it feels like campus culture is becoming more and more shaped by violent shootings and less by our educational experiences.
In a little more than a year, I, along with my fellow peers, will have to go through the college decision-making process. While I can’t speak for others, there is no doubt that these recent events will influence my choices. Florida and Texas are both notorious for their weak gun laws, and it worries me to live in places where guns are easily accessible. It’s unfortunate but important to recognize that this violence and how these states address it will now be a strong factor in my educational decisions.
Regarding the FSU shooting, the need for gun control is particularly underscored by the identity of the shooter: the son of a police deputy. According to news reports, the firearm used by Ikner was his mother’s former service weapon. Ikner also had prior experience in gun training, having sat in law enforcement meetings in the past. That poses an uncomfortable question: is the extent we aim for in gun training enough? Or must we do more to regulate these weapons?
What’s clear, however, is that we have the means to answer this question. We have the resources, knowledge, and past experiences that can help us learn the best way to effectively address the gun crisis. Yet the government is failing to take these necessary steps.
Every shooting is a reminder of our inaction. Elected officials are in a position to prevent these incidents. We as students can also do more. It’s important to acknowledge that a path to justice is not possible without unification. Recognizing that student’s voices are powerful is a vital first step. Then comes amplification, where students elevate and utilize their voices to create change. As gun incidents line the top of every newspaper, America faces blaring warnings of what’s to come without proper gun control.
For the students that are forced to live through these horrors, the families that are torn apart by these senseless deaths, this is a call to action.
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