The United States is awash in gun violence.
The U.S. has over 30,000 gun deaths per year, according to the FBI’s 2019 Crime in the U.S. report. The report also says firearms were used in 73.66% of murders in the country.
After the massacres in Uvalde and Buffalo, where the shooters legally obtained high-powered rifles to carry out their attacks, President Joe Biden called for the banning of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Saying, “for God’s sake how much more carnage are we willing to accept?” He also said if there can’t be a ban on assault rifles the age requirement should be raised from 18 to 21.
In Long Beach, a group of students has decided they can’t sit back and accept the violence anymore.
Anika Stewart, Aaliyah Rincon and Dayne Rash Arguello—who attend Wilson High School—and Tom Wood—who attends Poly High School—organized a walkout on Friday, June 3, in an effort to let students use their voices to demand change.
We will take a deeper dive into their views—and what it’s like to be a student in the age of school shooters—on this week’s “The Word.”
How the Black community can process stress and trauma from the Buffalo shooting