Content Warning: This article contains references to school shootings and gun violence.
Politicians won’t let children die peacefully in the United States. They keep them alive, not through memory or vigil, but through the talking points they espouse every day.
Four people — two teachers and two students — were shot and killed at Apalachee High School in Winder, Ga., on Sept. 5. Nine more victims were injured. In this country, when a child or an educator enters their school, tomorrow is not guaranteed. Apalachee is only 40 minutes from Emory University’s Atlanta campus, and gun violence does not care about travel times. On Sept. 19, a shooting occurred at Emory Point. I was in the midst of editing this article when I heard the news, and my immediate thought was the irony of its timing. The coincidence of my writing and this shooting is not an act of providence. Gun violence is a rot, one that spreads through America at an unstoppable rate. Do not believe that this rot will not seep through your state, your campus or even the walls of your home.
I called a friend at the University of North Georgia following the news of the Apalachee shooting. This friend knows a boy who was at Apalachee during the shooting. As we spoke, what stuck out to me was not the sadness in his voice but the exhaustion. Thoughts and prayers are the most tired words in this nation. Yet, our politicians have not stopped repeating that phrase, as if thoughts and prayers are a stronger shield than legislation.
We continuously let these same government officials co-opt violent events to promote themselves for re-election, just to let countless gun control bills die in committee. Laws that could save lives keep dying in Congress. Either through our own mass protests or through elected officials, we must push back against the needless violence that pervades Americans’ daily lives.
I have a cardboard sign sitting on my dorm room desk. I picked it up off a playground when I was 11 years old, thinking it was simply interesting trash. Today, it is my reminder that our representatives would rather collaborate with death than fight against it. The words read: “Since Columbine, 61 Mass Murders by Guns. Laws Congress Passed for GUN CONTROL: ZERO.”
It shouldn’t be surprising that the numbers represented in that sign have only grown. Since Columbine, there have been 417 school shootings. Comparatively, Congress has only passed one gun control law in the past 30 years. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, enacted on June 25, 2022, expanded background checks for those under the age of 21 purchasing firearms and increased funding for mental health services, school security and state red flag laws, which work to take guns away from dangerous people. The law also banned unmarried abusers from purchasing guns.
That’s it. These few changes in background checks and mental health are the massive achievements President Joe Biden touted as “something consequential.” The rest of the laws are buried in the hellscape of congressional committees. Our bureaucracy eats legislation up like candy. A bill like H.R.8, which would have required background checks for “firearm transfers between private parties,” was killed in the Senate. Dig deeper, if you’d like: H.R.9253 proposed national research for the prevention of gun violence. Rejected. It doesn’t matter if it is S.4706, H.R.8828, H.R.6754, S.3407 or any other act that could end up saving lives. These bills are referred to endless committee graveyards, where nothing ever gets done under the illusion of compromise and bipartisan cooperation.
I don’t blame the politicians for these legislative coffins, as they are trying their best within a flawed bureaucracy. Yet I hate how every legislator, administrator or in-between will shamelessly take casualties like those at Apalachee and use them for their own gain — or worse, their own apathy. In the words of Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA), who represents our 10th Congressional District, “Occasionally, bad things, tragedy happens, and no matter what, in six minutes, we lost four people.” It’s disgusting that we have allowed officials like Collins, who claim lawmakers cannot prevent such tragedies, into office. I won’t stand for an America built on indifference to suffering, and neither should you.
Regardless of party, our politicians maintain these warzones on school grounds. Consider our 2o24 presidential candidates, former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, who condemn gun violence but extend no solutions. Among both Democrats and Republicans, empty rhetoric and platitudes run rampant. They will not disturb our gun control status quo if doing so risks their livelihoods, even if legislation could save the lives of others.
The truth is that, if elected, neither presidential candidate would do anything substantial for children’s safety or gun control as president. Both are too preoccupied with winning enough electoral votes to secure the job. Progress will continue to stagnate, Congress will resume its cycle of endless compromise and with every day that passes, we will all grow a little more indifferent to the decaying system of democracy we call the American Dream.
I refuse to fall victim to this vicious cycle in which I must accept that my loved ones could die just so that a politician can win an election. This generation needs to make our voices heard, and not just with the vote the government allows us. Take to the streets, participate in upcoming walkouts, run for open elected positions whether they’re in Georgia, your hometown or any other place in this country. Generation Z, like every generation before us, can create change in this country. Our future is not bleak. It is brighter than it has ever been.
Noble Garcia (28C) is from Haymarket, Va.
If you or someone you know is struggling in the aftermath of gun violence, you can reach Emory’s Counseling and Psychological Services at (404) 727-7450 or https://counseling.emory.edu/ or the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Disaster Distress hotline 24/7 at +1 (800) 985-5990.
