Only a day after President Trump was inaugurated many commonly used resources that benefit people all over the country have been erased from reach. These resources include the Office of Gun Violence Prevention, the World Health Organization, the Paris Climate Agreement, etc. The list goes on and it is truly pitiful that these are the circumstances we are dealing with today.
January 22nd marks the first school shooting that has taken place in the United States in the year of 2025, and it has only been 22 days into the year. In Nashville, Tennessee, Antioch High School was another victim of the true tragedies involving gun violence. A shooting took place in the afternoon in the cafeteria of the high school. The shooter was a student at Antioch High School, 17 year old Solomon Henderson, who took the life of one innocent individual and later his own. Now that the Office of Gun Violence Prevention has been removed from the internet this raises more issues among the risks of gun violence in the United States.
The Office of Gun Violence Prevention was a resource that could be easily accessed to anyone in the United States online, that forwardly informed and promoted more effective strategies to reduce gun violence in the country. The idea being that gun violence should be rare and abnormal rather than common or normalized.
However, our priorities as of right now according to our current president, seem to be renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, renaming Mount Denali to Mount McKinley once again, and stripping the morals of the common people in our country; but in reality we should be focusing on the pressing issue of gun violence.
It is ridiculous that students all over the country have to wake up with the shuttering fear; whether or not they will even make it through the day in a place that should be installed with safety and precautions. In an area where learning is taking shape, and education is a priority students shouldn’t be worried about our lives being eliminated at any moment, students should be focused on the subjects being taught. Instead several communities face painful reminders of the failed attempts at reducing gun violence. Fellow students can’t keep counting the deceased.
Many states in our country have weak gun safety regulations in general, such as Tennessee. Tennessee refuses to enact gun safety policies in their state and leads our country with the highest rate of gun-related deaths. The only regulations they have on weaponry involves blocking the public to carry guns on state capitol grounds, mental health restrictions, and prohibitions on convicted abusers carrying weapons etc. The limits on gun-use are very slim which makes access to having these weapons insanely easy, especially for minors, in which school shootings become more frequent due to the uneducation and freewill of the public.
The second amendment in the United States Constitution claims that any citizen has, “the right to keep and bear arms”, which is one of the most valued rights we Americans have. However, with great power comes great responsibility and sometimes sacrificing a freedom that is clearly abused, in return for others safety might be a future decision to make. Instead of caring so much about the amendment, focus on restrictions for these weapons instead of blatant selfishness that comes with wanting to carry around a weapon.
Although the Office of Gun Violence Prevention has been removed from the public’s eyes, there are still many ways we can prevent the outrage of gun-use and increase the safety of society. Major needs for gun prevention include enacting basic gun laws such as implementing background checks, having sales records sent to law enforcement for authenticity purposes, assault weapons being prohibited, and the list goes on. Being aware of these issues can change the course of violent actions in the United States. Especially after every shooting reports tend to say, “We could have prevented this..” which is extremely upsetting to hear.
Quality of life in the United States should advocate for the lives of the people. After all, we decide who becomes the leader of our nation. Which can either help or hurt the course of our population.
While lives are being stolen everyday by gun violence, President Trump’s busy signing away executive orders that have no real benefit on our communities and overall safety. The Office of Gun Violence Prevention was never about politics, it was about saving the lives of the people in the United States who are fearful of the uncontrollable future that guns uphold within our society. In hopes that there is a change in our country, enough blood has been shed and I think I speak for everyone when I say that we are tired of seeing history repeat itself over and over again.
