Will America Finally Wake Up to the Reality of Gun Violence?
An AR-15 framed by decades of headlines, capturing the paralysis of U.S. gun politics. Graphic created by Rose Caporaletti.
This week, a shooting in Orem, Utah, was interrupted by another in Colorado. At 12:23 p.m. MDT, a single shot at Utah Valley University killed conservative commentator Charlie Kirk. Seven minutes later, 600 miles away in Evergreen, Colorado, a 16-year-old opened fire at his high school, injuring two classmates.
Together, these back-to-back tragedies illustrate a harsh truth: gun violence in America spares no one, not students in their classrooms nor public figures with security teams. No community, no matter how safe it is perceived to be, is insulated from the crisis.
For years, mass shootings were often framed narrowly as urban crime linked to gangs or drugs or as isolated acts of deranged individuals rather than as part of a broader, nationwide epidemic of gun violence. That framing tended to push the problem to the margins, suggesting it was confined to certain neighborhoods or social groups. Charlie Kirk’s own unfortunate last words perpetuated this belief as he responded to a question regarding the number of shooting events in America with, “including or not including gang violence?” However, the circumstances of Kirk’s death and a growing body of national data conclusively show that nowadays, gun violence touches every demographic, every political ideology, and every geography.
Studies show that one in fifteen Americans have witnessed a mass shooting, and two percent have been victims of one. The pervasiveness of shootings have caused mass desensitization to these types of events and thus severe underreporting. Mass shootings barely make the newscycle anymore, dulling public outrage and allowing policymakers to sidestep meaningful reform.
Millions of Americans have been directly impacted by gun violence. Yet, year after year, mass shooting events come and go, generating headlines, grief, and outrage, but leaving little lasting change in gun policy. Studies show that even when a state sees a surge in legislative proposals after a major shooting, those bills often fail to pass or are watered down. Nevertheless, a political assassination of the magnitude we saw this week hasn’t occurred in the United States for decades, and it should prompt a long-overdue reassessment of America’s gun laws.
Gun Culture in America
A popular quote circulating the internet goes as follows: “'No way to prevent this,' says the only nation where this regularly happens.” However, there is some form of explanation for this. Mainly, America is an outlier when it comes to gun culture.
The creation of the 2nd amendment itself, the right to bear arms, emerged from post-Revolution anxieties about tyranny and militia readiness. Revolutionaries believed that the only way to fully protect against a tyrannical British government encroaching on American freedom was to arm the masses.
Unsurprisingly, this strategy worked. The presence of militias made it harder for the federal government to consolidate power unchecked. Local militias played crucial roles in maintaining order, defending borders, and suppressing rebellions, as there was no large standing army.
Over time, however, America lost its need for a civilian militia, the pre-federal military force composed of ordinary civilians, and the link between guns and protection fell through. Despite this, owning weapons remains entwined with myths of rugged individualism, frontier life, and self-reliance. Since gun rights are cast as symbols of freedom and patriotism, debates about regulation often feel like assaults on identity, giving guns a place alongside burgers and football in the American cultural canon.
However, even sports and food are regulated, yet gun control remains permanently benched in U.S. legislation. Groups like the NRA (National Rifle Association), which thrive on efforts to tighten firearm commerce, spend more than ten million dollars yearly during election cycles to keep lawmakers from meaningfully regulating gun sales.
Charlie Kirk famously said, “I think it’s worth it to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights.” To gun rights activists, supporting the unrestricted trade of deadly weapons is so essential that nearly fifty thousand gun deaths a year are considered a price worth paying to keep their guns.
The Reality of Gun Violence
While figures on the conservative right, including President Donald Trump, are quick to blame the left for such violence, the reality is that gun violence can strike anyone, at any time, for any reason.
This is because America’s gun laws are so lax that most mass shooters don’t need to skirt them. Studies from the FBI, ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives), and the Violence Project find that roughly three-quarters of firearms used in mass shootings are purchased legally, often after a background check. Only a small share is stolen or obtained on the black market. When a country’s regulations are so porous that people intent on slaughter can arm themselves through ordinary retail channels, the debate isn’t about political opponents finding guns; it’s about how weak our laws really are.
The loudest voices condemning Charlie Kirk’s killing have come from the same camp that refuses to admit the weapon was the problem. They mourn the loss but hold to the aged belief that more guns will make us safer. Until they reckon with the reality that easy access to firearms fuels the very violence they deplore, nothing will change, and the following headline will arrive before the grief from the last one has even settled. It is past time for Americans to break this cycle, confront the influence of the gun lobby, and insist that the right to safety carries as much weight as the right to bear arms.