Gun violence is an epidemic in America — gun safety can be the cure 

The shooting of four people at Apalachee High School in Winder, Ga., last week is a tragedy. When a 14-year-old uses a firearm for such destructive purposes, one must look at the sequence of events that led him to accessing the weapon, and the circumstances surrounding the shooting. That is why his father is also being charged for the murders.

Calls for stricter firearm policies in the aftermath of such an event are ill-timed, given its visceral nature, but it is a conversation that must be had. 

Part of the issue is that policies focused to improve “gun safety” or reduce “gun violence” get discussed as if they were one and the same. This viewpoint muddies the water around the key issue, which is reducing avoidable firearms deaths. 

Gun safety is about responsible firearm ownership. It focuses on handling firearms with respect, and fostering an appropriate environment. Gun owners in many rural areas as well as Midwest and Mountain West states are keenly aware of such issues, though the Georgia school shooting indicates that lapses can and do occur.

In contrast, gun violence focuses on the misuse of firearms that may involve criminal activity or those who inflict harm with firearms, including suicide. Those who live in large urban areas are sensitive to such issues. 

Though the two issues have some overlap, they also have some important differences.  

The majority of people who legally own firearms are responsible, choosing to buy their firearm for sport, for protection, or as collectors. Many cite the Second Amendment as their constitutional right. One cannot group such people with those who obtain firearms, often illegally, and misuse such weapons for illicit activity.

There are valued sectors in society where a clear divide exists between “safety” and “violence.” Both, however, contribute to a sizeable number of avoidable deaths. 

Around 40,000 people were killed in automobile accidents in 2023, which was a slightly lower number than in 2022. There were also over 5 million injuries associated with automobile accident in 2022 that required medical attention, making automobile transportation a risky endeavor.  

The Federal Highway Administration focuses its attention on improving automobile safety. Its goal is to set policies and establish standards that permit automobiles to operate on the nation’s road system, giving drivers and passengers the greatest opportunities to avoid accidents as well as remain safe in the event of an accident. States also have laws governing the roadway, such as those that attempt to deter driving under the influence, which inflicts “violence” on our nation’s roads and highways. Despite all such precautions, automobile deaths still occur. This will continue as long as automobiles are used as the nation’s primary mode of transportation. 

Over 107,000 people died of drug overdoses in 2023. Yet opioids themselves are not the problem. The issue is how they are used and whether the user has a full understanding of the risks associated with using such substances, given their highly addictive nature.  

In many cases, people are legally prescribed and administered opioids in the aftermath of medical procedures, like highly invasive surgeries after which the initial recovery period elicits extreme pain. Others may suffer from chronic pain for which alternative, nonaddictive pharmaceuticals and treatments have proven to be ineffective. Unfortunately, some such people become addicted to such substances, creating the risk of overdoses that lead to deaths.  

This has prompted calls for greater opioid controls and prescribing safeguards to be put in place to prevent such events. The focus to reduce opioid deaths from opioid overdoses, such as by administering naloxone, is a safety issue. Indeed, opioid safety is paramount to keeping appropriate controls on legally prescribed opioids, while illicitly distributed opioids and uncontrolled addiction are associated with opioid violence and deaths. 

Both automobiles and opioids have a role in society, and both are highly regulated to keep people as safe as possible. Yet both may also be the domains for violence, in spite of such precautions.  

Many will argue that automobiles and opioids offer benefits that firearms do not. That point of view often comes from those who have never owned a firearm and may have only had negative experiences with them. Just like with anyone who has had a loved one die in an automobile accident or by an opioid overdose, they may carry a jaded view. 

If firearm safety can be elevated, this may keep more of these weapons out of the hands of those who misuse them and inflict violence — namely, criminal activity. That is why firearm safety should be on all elected officials’ minds this election season. 

With firearms deaths likely to be at a three-year low in 2024, we have entered a period to implement constructive and meaningful firearm safety policies. Unfortunately, only in the aftermath of a violent shooting or when firearms deaths are rising does firearm safety get any traction with policy-makers, as the Georgia school shooting shows. It is during these times that nothing productive can be achieved, with both extreme factions hunkering down into their political trenches, unyielding in discussing any options that threaten their beliefs and practices.  

Indeed, that is when the line between “gun safety” and ‘”gun violence” gets blurred, making it difficult to engage in rational dialogue on what can be a highly visceral issue.  

Sheldon H. Jacobson, Ph.D., is a professor of computer science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.