At 12:23 p.m. on Sept. 10, a single shot rang out on the campus of Utah Valley University, striking political activist Charlie Kirk in the neck and killing him. Just minutes later in Colorado, multiple shots were fired at Evergreen High School, injuring two and leaving the shooter, a 16-year-old boy, dead.
Gun violence is a problem so pressing in American culture that if you ask someone, “Did you hear about the shooting?” they would have to ask which one it was.
School shootings and political violence are extremely problematic, but the more frequent of the two in recent years has been the former. This calendar year, there have been nine school shootings that have resulted in death or injuries, including two that have already happened in this current school year (the Evergreen High School shooting and a shooting at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis). Such shootings have led to the death of four children and left 35 injured.
Despite being a less frequent issue, political violence in the U.S. is not uncommon, especially in recent years. The murder of Kirk is not the first action of political violence; in fact, it’s part of a string of political violence that has plagued this era of American politics.
All of the following incidents and statistics are listed in an article by NBC News: In 2021, a mob stormed the Capitol Building in protest of the results of the 2020 election, and pipe bombs were found in both the Democratic and Republican party headquarters. In 2022, there was a kidnapping attempt on Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, a murder attempt on Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s home was broken into, and her husband was injured. In 2024, two attempts were made on President Donald Trump’s life, both involving shooters. In 2025, Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman, her husband, and Minnesota Senator Hoffman were all shot, with the former two of the three dying from it, and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s home was set on fire.
Although his opinions were controversial in America’s political landscape, Kirk did everything by the book when it came to the First Amendment. Nobody should ever die from gun violence, no matter where they stand politically. People have different opinions, but dying from gun violence should not be something people have to regularly worry about.
The best way to approach this problem is undoubtedly reform and restrictions when it comes to the purchases and acquisitions of firearms. However, as high schoolers, we don’t have the platform or power to impose such reform. What we can do, though, is use our voices.
On Sept. 5, members of the Student Demand Action Club (SDAC) did exactly that. The club organized a walkout to bring more attention to gun violence, specifically school shootings. In an article published on Sept. 8, leaders of the club detailed the reasons for organizing the walkout, explaining that they do not want students to be afraid of being shot while they are at school.
Brooklyn Carr Heuer, senior, was a part of the group that helped organize the walkout.
“It’s really depressing,” Carr Heuer said. “I feel like, in general, this whole thing is kind of just a cycle. I mean, you have a school shooting, or a political shooting, or any kind of act of violence like that, and then you have people getting angry about it. You [then] have a nationwide student walkout, like the one we organized, but then a week later you have another school shooting, and I’m sure in another week we’ll have another student walkout somewhere, and it just sort of keeps going. I’m just wondering when it’s going to end or what we really have to do to stop that from continuing.”
Lucy Gowdy, sophomore, was also one of those involved in organizing the walkout.
“This is an issue that actually matters to us and is not something that we’re just gonna let other people decide,” Gowdy said. “This is our lives that are at risk here, and we are forced to come to a place where we have to have drills in case there is someone trying to actively kill us. I think showing that this is something that we actually care about and believe in and need changed is the most that we can do, like what we just did with the walkout.”
West Linn has implemented rules to help prevent issues such as an intruder, including a new lock system that includes a call box and camera outside of all main school entrances. Students have to present either a student ID or other objects, such as Life class passes, to prove they are students of the school.
After the walkout on that Friday, the news we received on Wednesday was like a slap to the face. These tragic events emphasize just how much more reform is needed when it comes to gun violence. The right to bear arms doesn’t mean the right to open fire.
Cadence Cox, senior, spoke at the walkout, leading a moment of silence for those affected by school shootings. Cox believes a step that can be taken is to educate students about the guns themselves.
“I think that we are all too comfortable around guns,” Cox said. “I have guns in my house, and I’ve had guns in my house for my entire life. I know where they are, but I am unable to access them. From a young age, I was taught how to unload a gun and what a gun looks like when it’s loaded. We’ve always talked about the rules of gun safety, where you aim, and all of these things. That not being a part of everyone’s lives, especially those who own guns, is not understandable to me.”
Education is always a valuable thing, especially in situations like these, whether that be education on how to handle a gun, education on the history of school shootings and political violence, and education on how this is affecting our country as a whole. West Linn has a class that discusses such issues: AP U.S. Government and Politics. However, it’s an elective and not required for students to take.
Another issue that has been frequently tied to gun violence is that of mental health. According to Statista, in 77 of 155 mass shootings since 1983, the shooter had shown prior signs of mental health problems. A recent example is the Evergreen High School shooting, where after firing bullets and injuring two, the shooter turned the gun on himself.
On top of gun reform, more efforts on teaching and encouraging conversations about mental health should be put into effect, especially in schools. West Linn happens to have a good support system, but around the country, many schools may not. Implementation could be through a counselor or social worker, or more teaching of it in classes such as Health or Life class, and its equivalents around the country. This effort to encourage mental health literacy could help significantly.
However, the most prominent issue still lies with guns. Gun control is one of the issues that leaves this country heavily divided, and it may be difficult to reach a solution.
“I feel like everyone, high schoolers included, as well as anybody else, should all agree that something needs to be done about this,” Carr Heuer said. “I feel like we do need stricter gun safety policies and gun restrictions. The specifics of what that would look like is obviously super debatable and there’s a lot of issues with it and a lot of different opinions and sides, but I think in general, everybody should be pushing for some kind of solution so that this stuff doesn’t happen, even if that’s just reaching out to your representatives and stuff, and saying, even if it’s vague, ‘this is something that concerns me and we need to have stricter gun policies.’ No matter what that looks like, and what they actually do with that, just making sure that they know you want that stricter gun policy [is important].”
Whether the reform starts with gun education, restrictions on the purchasing of firearms, education about mental health, or speaking out about the issues, something needs to be done. Yes, the implications of the Second Amendment are a sore subject for many, but the more we talk about these issues and actually discuss potential reform and solutions, the closer we will get to these things actually being put into motion, which is the end goal.
