STUDENT VOICES | THE 2025 CHYNN ETHICS PAPER PRIZE BEST ESSAY WINNER
The Urgent Need for Action: Addressing Gun Violence in the Wake of Sandy Hook
By Venesa Bajraliu, Fordham College Lincoln Center 2025
At nine years old, I wafted the gunpowder that nearly killed me. The Sandy Hook school shooting on December 14, 2012, was a tragedy that forever changed my life and the lives of many others. As a student at Sandy Hook Elementary School, I witnessed firsthand the horror and devastation that unfolded that day. The impact of the shooting has been profound, shaping my perspective on life, safety, and the importance of addressing gun violence.
I aim to share my personal experience of the Sandy Hook School shooting and reflect on the ethical concerns regarding the tragedy. By recounting my story, I hope to shed light on the lasting effects of gun violence on individuals and communities, and to contribute to the ongoing fight to prevent future tragedies and foster a safe environment for our future generations.
It was a quiet Friday morning, just like any other day at Sandy Hook. During the morning meeting, my classmates and I prattled excitedly about our weekend plans, bragging about the activities our parents had set up for us. At 9 am, we walked over to our first class. On this particular day, I had art class with Mrs. Gunn. We were working on weaving string between two popsicle sticks that were glued together. Given it was the first class of the day, many of the students’ eyes were half-shut.
However, this changed in an instant when the first round of gunshots pierced through our ears, shots that echoed like a haunting melody through the hallways. Being as young as we were, we sought answers and swarmed Mrs. Gunn with questions. In an attempt to keep us calm, Mrs. Gunn explained that there was an animal in the school. Quickly, she herded us into her tiny office as the main doors of the classroom would not close shut. We were uncomfortable, packed like sardines, in an office that was a fraction of the size of the classroom.
Hoping things could not get much worse, we heard the crackle of the loudspeaker turning on, followed by an agonizing scream and then silence. This scream was the attempt of Sandy Hook’s principal to warn us of an active shooter. After this, my classmates and I realized there was no animal, and many of us began to quietly cry. What seemed like an eternity had only been about three minutes, and some of us began to count the shots that waved through our bodies every thirty seconds.
Mrs. Gunn, trembling with fear, picked up her phone and dialed 911. Her voice was filled with desperation as she pleaded, almost begging, for the police to come quickly. “Sandy Hook school, please, please hurry, we hear gunshots and they won’t stop,” she cried. It was the haunting call of a woman in despair, doing everything in her power to protect her students. It was an unfamiliar sight to see a teacher, usually a pillar of strength, in such a vulnerable state.
Five minutes had passed and after one singular shot, there were no more that followed. Men in bullet proof vests and machine guns knocked on our office door, telling us to close our eyes and walk outside to the fire station and so we did. My brother and mom were some of the first people at the scene. They saw me outside and I was greeted with the tightest hugs and tears.
The grief and sadness that enveloped our community in the aftermath of the tragedy was overwhelming. Twenty innocent first-graders and six dedicated educators fell victim to gun violence. The idea that our quiet town would be marked by such horrific events was both unexpected and unbelievable. The hardest part to come to terms with was the thought of those young victims, whose Christmas gifts would remain under the tree, unopened and gathering dust, forever unplayed with.
And so, the “United” States of America strays far from its namesake. A permeating culture of gun infatuation, combined with a powerful gun lobby led by wealth rather than intelligent policy, is to blame for the gun violence epidemic plaguing our streets and schools. Indeed, gun culture is so deeply rooted in American ideology that even dead children cannot instigate a true cultural shift.
Since the Columbine High School shooting in 1999, 240 school shootings have been documented in the United States (Roberts, 2019). The truth is that we as a country have not yet fully agreed that gun violence is a true social issue, as opposed to a set of random occurrences that could happen anywhere. This is an enormous barrier to social change – if we cannot agree that gun violence is a social issue, then social change is an unrealistic prospect. In general, arguments pertaining to gun violence often question whether gun violence and school shootings specifically are a product of America’s mental health crisis, a lack of gun control, a security issue, or even a racial issue. While there is no single answer to this question, it is likely multifaceted.
The reality is that the proportion of gun violence and school shootings that occur within our borders are uniquely American. Foreign nations gawk at our rate of school shootings. In order to understand this issue, we must first discuss gun culture in America. America’s obsession with weapons began hundreds of years ago, when the Colonies in New England used them for self-defense and territorial protection. They also served as a means of protection from a tyrannical government, foreign or domestic. America’s founding principles – those of liberty and freedom – served as the basis for protection of gun rights for the people. Many early Americans were descendants of oppressive European regimes, thus the freedom to bear arms was a pivotal tenet in their new homeland.
The Constitution’s Second Amendment specifically lays out one’s “right to bear arms.” Specifically, the 2nd Amendment states: “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed” (The Constitution of the United States, Amendment 2). This is perhaps the most frequently cited defense for America’s resistance to change in gun laws. Much of the modern laws our nation has adopted derive from those of the Constitution, and the hesitancy to deviate from this “legal Bible” of sorts continues to hold America back from progressive change. However, it must be emphasized that no Constitutional amendment is absolute.
We must, however, ask the most important question of them all: what is the solution? While more restrictive access to weapons and improved mental health services are obvious considerations, there is one other less discussed consideration that may be the most powerful of them all: changing the way we talk about guns. In other words, we must change the cultural symbolism of weapons.
In his article “Guns, identity, and nationhood,” Mugambi Jouet suggests that in order to address gun violence, we must first address the symbolism of guns in our society. According to Jouet, researchers looking to decrease mass shootings in the U.S. need not gun distribution, but rather to examine the symbolism of guns. Children across the country grow up around guns – shooting, hunting, social media, video games. Yet, they are not formally educated on the dangers of guns or how common accidental discharges are. In fact, statistics show that those who have weapons for self-defense are actually more likely to be injured or killed from their own weapon than by someone else. Even if one reads the day to day news, there are countless stories of accidental firearm discharges leading to tragic deaths. The fundamental issue is that most people do not know this. American culture so strongly emphasizes the utility and prowess of a weapon, that they often brush aside alarming statistics.
By changing the way guns are talked about and viewed by upcoming generations, there is enormous potential to instigate change. The reality is that we cannot change American culture – at least not easily. We cannot change our conception of liberty and individualism. We cannot become a “collective” society that emphasizes the greater good overnight when individualism is all we know. The truth is that Americans cannot, and will never be willing, to change their American culture. It is far easier to change our discussion surrounding guns than attempt to magically become a collectivist society.
The Sandy Hook school shooting was marked as a heart-wrenching tragedy that underscored the critical need for action against gun violence. This devastating event revealed the fragility of our schools and the urgent necessity to create safe havens for our children. To honor the innocent lives lost, we must champion stronger gun control laws, enhance mental health support, and cultivate a culture of empathy and vigilance. By taking bold and decisive steps, we can prevent future tragedies and ensure a safer, more compassionate world for our future generations.
For more information about the prize, past winners, and submission requirements for 2026, please visit the Chynn Ethics Paper Prize webpage. The deadline to submit is TBD and is open to ALL undergraduates.
Venesa Bajraliu majored in Political Science at Fordham College of Lincoln Center (Class of 2025).
Works Cited
Jouet, Mugambi. “Guns, Identity, and Nationhood.” Nature News, Nature Publishing Group, 5 Nov. 2019, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-019-0349-z.
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