On February 14, 2024, tragedy struck at the west side of Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri, United States. During the Super Bowl LVIII victory parade for the Kansas City Chiefs, a mass shooting occurred, leaving 23 individuals wounded. Among the victims, one person tragically lost their life, while 22 others, including 11 children, sustained injuries.
This distressing incident brings attention to Missouri’s concerning firearm landscape. The state ranks seventh in terms of gun-related fatalities and exhibits some of the nation’s most lenient gun regulations: background checks have been repealed, there’s no provision for an Extreme Risk law, carrying guns in public doesn’t require a permit, there’s no ban on assault weapons, and there’s no minimum age requirement for the possession of assault weapons.
Natalie Cordray (@natalianstalion ), a producer based in Kansas City, speaks on the incident, “For a community that is so passionate about the Chiefs and for that to happen at a Chief’s event, I only hope that that same community brings the same passion for helping effect change.”
On April 20th, the House cut off Rep. Zooey Zephyr’s microphone when she refused to apologize for telling the supporters of the ban on gender-affirming care for youths in Montana would have “blood on their hands.” Zephyr became the first openly transgender woman elected to Montana Legislature in 2022.
The attack on gender-affirming care rises as anti-trans bills continue to be introduced across the country. 19 states have laws restricting gender-affirming care.
Kathleen Mclaughlin, a writer and a reporter based in Butte, speaks on the incident, “That’s such an important thing to keep in mind. Yeah, this session was about attacking Trans people, but who’s going to be next? Because someone else will be next.”
At least 29 states currently allow teachers or school staff to be armed in the classroom- Ohio letting teachers be armed after no more than 24 hours of training. As of 2018, federal survey data estimated that 2.6 percent of public schools had armed faculty.
Megan Johns, a current elementary and previous high school teacher, was exposed to numerous gun incidents on school grounds. She speaks about worrying for both herself and the student’s well-being and the pressure she feels with the expectation to arm the teachers.
Megan says: “A lot of these kids have real trauma, and definitely bringing weapons into a school is not the way to handle it.”
The statistic shows that 17500 people have died from gun violence, and 960 teens and 440 children were injured or killed in the United States this year.
That’s an average of 116 deaths every single day.
Having lived abroad, Jennie Wilson observations on America’s atypical cultural devotion to gun ownership. She speaks about her experience as a mother of three children, worrying about their safety and future.
Jennie says, “That’s the kind of really gut-wrenching part, is to know that everyone in this country thinks that’s just the way it has to be. And it’s not.”
