The incident in Uvalde has refreshed the endless debates surrounding gun violence in the United States, and what should be done to curb it. Meanwhile, media headlines continue to be flooded with incident-after-incident of gun violence involving teenagers. The number of weekly reports of violent crimes committed by teens is hard to ignore — especially with the fact that the Uvalde shooter was a teenager himself. Why are American teens committing gun crimes at such disturbing, frequent rates?
Last week, an 18-year-old young man was allowed to legally purchase a semi-automatic firearm before using it to heartlessly murder several children and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas. This shooter — whose name will not be printed by The Justice Voice — was barely a legal adult, but was given a weapon of mass murder with no hesitation. This teenage killer is far from the first in his age group to commit a horrendous act of gun violence — and he certainly isn’t the youngest. In fact, the growing number of cases of teenagers who are arrested for gun related crimes are hinting to a disturbing trend that has been sneaking up on us — in plain view — for many years.
In the media
In just the past couple of weeks alone, mainstream media sources have reported on more than a dozen arrests involving teenagers and their involvement in gun violence. As this article is being written on June 1, 2022, a teenager in Lansing, New York has been arrested for making gun-related threats toward his high school. My Twin Tiers reports that a threat posted just this morning by the teen implied that he intended on bringing a firearm to school. He has been charged in association with this incident. Just last week, a Danville, Virginia boy of only 16-years-old was arrested for threatening to shoot up an area high school. On Tuesday, a 16-year-old Alabama teen was arrested after he tried to rob a Dollar Store before shooting at an unsuspecting motorist and stealing his vehicle.
- Three teenagers and two adults were recently indicted in association with a fatal shooting that took place during a funeral in Tennessee.
- Multiple teenagers have been arrested just this past week in association with threatening to shoot up their schools. These incidents have taken place in New York, Mississippi, Florida, California and several other states.
- A 17-year-old boy has been arrested for shooting two brothers to death in Dunwoody, Georgia.
- A Canadian teenager was arrested after he brought a replica handgun to school this week.
- A Vancouver, Washington teenager was arrested on Tuesday after a loaded semi-automatic firearm was found in his possession.
- A 17-year-old in Tennessee was arrested for pointing a gun at a motorist during a road rage incident. At the time of his arrest, police found ecstacy, marijuana and two guns in his possession.
- An Alabama teenager was arrested after he shot another 15-year-old over the weekend.
- Another Alabama teenager was arrested this week after he shot an 11-year-old child to death.
- An 18-year-old Florida man was arrested this week after he posted photos of guns to social media, and a video clip of himself asking Siri for “directions to the nearest school.”
- A teenager from Oakdale, Minnesota recently killed a 14-year-old at a house party during an incident involving gun violence.
- A 15-year-old boy in Virginia has been arrested for shooting a nine-year-old girl, leaving her in critical condition this week.
- A Washington teenager has been arrested this week after he shot at his ex-girlfriend and threatened the victim’s mother.
- An 18-year-old Ohio teen has been arrested for shooting and killing his girlfriend.
This list could go on-and-on without end, especially since every single incident took place in the past seven to 14 days alone. What’s more, these are the cases that actually get picked up by mainstream media sources. The actual number of violent gun-related incidents among teenagers is likely far higher.
Where are teens getting their hands on guns?
The answer to that question is fairly obvious, isn’t it? In the vast majority of incidents of gun violence perpetrated by teens, the firearms are obtained from their own homes. In other words, they’re getting the guns from their own family members: Adults who are irresponsible gun-owners. This fact is backed up by several statistical studies, such as this one from last year, which revealed some startling truths. What’s also a disturbing fact: The majority of mass school shooters obtain guns from their own homes as well.
Approximately a third of U.S. families with children have guns in their homes. Of that percentage, nearly 5 Million children live in homes with improperly stored guns, unlocked and loaded guns and guns that are easy for them to access. To further illustrate how startling that number is, 70% of parents polled in 2021 believe that their children have absolutely no access to the firearms in their home. When the children of these parents were asked this question in the same study, 33% of them reported that they could, in fact, access the guns in their homes. What’s more, many of them could gain access to otherwise secured guns in 60 minutes or less.
The availability of illegally-obtained “street guns” is another increasingly common problem in the United States. While the majority of teen offenders get access to guns from their homes, some easily turn to stolen guns and other illegal firearms. Many sources also share that some teens obtain firearms through means of car theft and/or home break-ins. That’s another reason why it’s so very important to report the theft of a firearm that’s supposed to be in your possession immediately.
Can anything be done?
NBC News reports that the number of teenagers who own and carry guns increased by more than 40% between the years 2002 and 2019 — and that number is still growing. This sharp increase in teen gun ownership is hard to ignore as it is, but the increase in teen-perpetrated gun violence should make this issue stick out like a sore thumb. Nonetheless, not enough people are pushing for parental accountability in cases of teen-perpetrated gun violence and definitely not enough people are pushing for tighter restrictions and regulations for gun owners in general.
Should parents with children in the home be barred from owning guns? Should people with children be required to take gun education classes before legally obtaining a firearm? Should they be jailed if their children gain access to their guns and then commit crimes with them? What can be done about a growing gun problem in a country that refuses to do anything about it?
Chelsea Hoffman is a true crime writer with over a decade of professional writing experience. She is best known for her coverage of missing people including the tragic disappearance of Madeleine McCann as well as the heartbreaking cases of Dylan Redwine, Heather Elvis and many others.
