The 2021-22 school year ended in tragedy, with yet another school shooting. Thoughts of the young victims of Uvalde tinged even the most relaxing summer vacations with sadness, anger, and frustration. Indeed, our nation continues to reel amidst a growing pandemic of gun violence.

According to the Gun Violence Archive and the Congressional Research Service, a mass shooting can be defined as an incident where four or more people were shot, not counting the shooter as a victim. In an article written by insider.com, the United States was already up to 314 mass shootings as of July 5. This puts the country on track to match or even surpass the record breaking 692 mass shootings from 2021. 

“We have a lot of guns (in the United States). And when you have as many guns as we have – which we have more guns than people – you’re going to have more gun violence in all of its forms,” said R. Thurman Barnes, the assistant director of Rutgers University’s New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center. 

As people throughout the country plead for gun reform, mass shootings keep on occurring at a hyperactive pace. In June, families of gun violence victims testified before Congress for tightened gun control legislation. 

On July 4, seven people were killed and more than 40 people were injured following a mass shooting during an Independence Day parade in Highland Park, Illinois. The shooting occurred just over a week after President Joe Biden signed a bipartisan gun reform bill into law. 

Then, back on May 24, 19 students and two teachers were killed, and nearly 20 people were injured in a mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. This marked the deadliest school shooting since Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012. Police at the school have been criticized for not taking action, as a video clip that extended over an hour showed the policemen standing in the hallway, failing to take action.

The United States certainly has more lenient firearm laws and policies compared to most other countries. Gun laws and regulations also vary from state to state. Some states have more restrictive laws, while some allow for much greater firearm ownership rates for the uses of protection and hunting. 

As a result, firearms have become one of the leading causes of death for Americans of any age, according to Gifford’s Law Center. They are also the leading cause of death for children under the age of 18. 

In 2021, the Gun Violence Archive found that gun violence overall killed 45,010 people. So far in 2022, gun violence overall has killed at least 22,000 people in the U.S, putting 2022 on the same track as 2021.

As more and more shootings occur throughout the country, people need to become better educated on the topic of gun violence. Firearm restrictions and increased security in schools are only the beginning of creating a safer society, but currently, people are questioning if this problem will persist or if it will be halted. Time will tell.