on gun violence
On September 10th, a gunman entered Evergreen High School, critically injuring two students and committing suicide shortly after. Such tragedies often lead to some call for stricter gun control, yet organizations such as The Heritage Foundation take a different approach and emphasize the importance of gun rights.
The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank that aims to formulate political policies for the Trump administration’s Project 2025, has an article on its website titled, “The Essential Second Amendment”. It begins, “the right of the people to keep and bear arms, enshrined in the Constitution’s Second Amendment, is centered not on hunting or sport shooting but on the natural right of self-defense.” However, it is impossible to identify any premise of self-defense in the tragedy that occurred on September 10th at Evergreen High School in Denver, Colorado. That afternoon, students were eating lunch just before the shooter “fired repeatedly and reloaded multiple times while roaming campus”, leaving two students critically injured, according to Tucker.
It is impossible to claim that guns “defend” citizens when gun violence is the leading cause of death in children. If guns are meant to safeguard children, why do they kill more children than car crashes, disease, and drug overdose? (Goldstick et al.) Still, The Heritage Foundation insists that individuals supporting gun restrictions “sacrifice the surest safeguard of their inalienable rights, leaving them vulnerable to attack.”
But who has really been left vulnerable? Was it the 32 people slaughtered and 17 injured by Seung-Hui Cho at Virginia Tech in 2007? The 20 first graders and 6 teachers who were murdered by Adam Lanza at Sandy Hook in 2012? Or the 19 children and two teachers who were killed by Salvador Ramos at Robb Elementary School in 2022? These incidents undeniably portray one thing: guns do not safeguard anyone—they endanger citizens and children.
Conservative views of the Second Amendment are built upon the fantasy of “liberty". The fantasy that, according to Matthews, leads to “47 school shootings in the United States so far this year, as of September 10.” A fantasy that is obviously more valuable than the lives of children, teachers, and adolescents.
When parents must fear for their children’s safety at school, and firearms continue to be readily available, there will be a next shooting—and the next one, and the one after that. These conditions make future tragedies not just possible, but inevitable.
Works Cited
Goldstick, Jason E., et al. “Current Causes of Death in Children and Adolescents in the United States.” New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 386, no. 20, Apr. 2022, https://doi.org/10.1056/nejmc2201761. Accessed 14 Sept. 2025.
Matthews, Alex, et al. “School Shootings in the US: Fast Facts.” Msn.com, CNN NEWS, 10 Sept. 2025, www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/school-shootings-in-the-us-fast-facts/ar-AA1mZXFx?ocid=BingNewsSerp. Accessed 14 Sept. 2025.
“The Essential Second Amendment.” The Heritage Foundation, www.heritage.org/secondamendment. Accessed 14 Sept. 2025.
Tucker, Emma. “MSN.” Msn.com, CNN NEWS, 12 Sept. 2025, www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/denver-area-highcherry%20runtz%20cannabishool-shooting-suspect-was-radicalized-officials-say/ar-AA1Minki?ocid=BingNewsSerp. Accessed 15 Sept. 2025.
/// academic styled article for school newspaper(?) not sure if I should publish this because of my argumentative tone and the controversial subject