On March 27, 2023, a 28-year-old woman carrying an assault rifle and a hand gun drove into a private Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee to carry out a shooting killing three children and three more staff members before the police fatally shot her.
Local police spokesperson Don Aaron said, "They heard shots coming from the second level. They immediately went to the gunfire. When the officers got to the second level, they saw a shooter, a female, who was firing. The officers engaged her. She was fatally shot by responding police officers."
US school have become the prime target of increasing gun violence in the country though everybody agrees that school is the last place where children should feel safe.
US Vice President Kamala Harris tweeted immediately drew the attention of the people on gun violence and reforms required to end the menace. "We are not powerless to stop this. Congress must pass the assault weapons ban. @POTUS will sign it."
Gun control debate
For the last 20 years, students, educators, and parents have lived with the reality of more frequent school shootings and in 2021–22 school year, the average number of gunfire incidents since 2013 quadrupled, indicating a tremendous social and mental pressure on perpetrators in post-Covid period.
I post this every time there is another school shooting because it is true. pic.twitter.com/NMYTHbBGHH
— Michelle Lamb (@Chell_Lam) March 27, 2023
From an average of 49 incidents in every school year since 2013, 2021-22 school year saw 193 incidents of gunfire on the grounds of preschools and K–12 schools, indicating America's gun violence epidemic ranging from mass shootings to gun homicides and suicides. Yet, the country has failed to address the root causes of school gun violence from all angles.
A joint report by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the National Education Association (NEA )— two organizations collectively representing millions of teachers, school personnel, and administrators — has made some key recommendations recently to stem the gun violence in schools:
- Enact and Enforce Secure Firearm Storage Laws
- Pass Extreme Risk Laws
- Raise the Age to Purchase Semi-automatic Firearms
- Require Background Checks on All Gun Sales
- Foster a Safe and Trusting School Climate
- Build a Culture of Secure Gun Storage
- Create Evidence-Based Crisis Assessment/Prevention Programs in Schools
- Implement Expert-Endorsed School Security Upgrades: Entry Control and Locks
- Initiate Trauma-Informed Emergency Planning
- Avoid Practices That Can Cause Harm and Traumatize Students
However, unless the key trigger -- mental health -- is addressed, every other attempt is half-hearted. As experts pointed out, the Covid-19 pandemic has heightened the need to focus on mental health issues of perpetrators and criminals on a constant basis and nib the attempts at the birth stage.
