I live in Santee, California, where on March 5, 2001, a 15-year-old student took an eight-shot, .22-caliber revolver to class at Santana High School. The student opened fire, killing two students and wounding 13 others.
Santana showed me that this kind of thing can happen anywhere, and SD4GVP and similar groups across the nation are dedicated to eliminating shootings in places like schools. We work through legislative action, public education and whatever impact we can have to reduce the glorification of gun violence in the media.
Eliminating guns is not a feasible goal, nor is it desirable. It’s not the guns that kill people, but the people who use them. The easy access to military-grade weaponry and the lack of oversight of the gun market are among the prime conditions that have brought gun violence in this country to where it is today.
According to the Gun Violence Archive, a total of 43,156 people died in 2023 from gun violence in the U.S. We need to put an end to this. It will take time, but we need to start now.
Al Lefcourt is a volunteer with San Diegans for Gun Violence Prevention.
Photo credit: Somewikistuff, CC BY-SA 3.0
