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NEA Issue Explainer

Gun Violence Prevention

Students need safe environments to learn, live, and grow.
Educators hold up signs that read Protect Our Schools Photo by Patrick Ryan
NEA Members participate in the March For Our Lives rally against gun violence in Washington, D.C. in 2018
By: National Education Association
Published: January 21, 2026
This issue explainer originally appeared on NEA.org

Schools and Campuses.
Synagogues. 
Shopping Malls. 
Parks. 
Fourth of July Parade. 
Casino. 
Hospitals. 
Entertainment District. 
Veterans Home. 
College Campuses. 
Temples. 
Supermarkets. 
Military Bases. 
Churches. 
Workplaces. 
LGBTQ+ Nightclubs. 
Restaurants. 

These are the places where Americans have been killed or wounded in mass shootings. 

Students deserve safe communities, schools, and campuses that promote their learning and development. But sadly, children and young people are surrounded by gun violence.

According to a 2024 Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions report, firearms are continuing to kill more children ages 1 to 17 than any other cause, including car crashes and cancer. 

Pew Research Center’s recent analysis of federal data, the number of children and teens killed by gunfire in the U.S. increased by 50 percent between 2019 and 2021. The Pew Research Center reported in 2024 that nearly 60% of educators worry about the possibility of gun violence at their schools.

Our students are coming of age in an era of mass shootings in many of the places we gather. Massacres at Columbine, Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook, Umpqua Community College, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Robb Elementary, the Covenant School, and other schools have traumatized children, their families, and educators. 

Students should not have to endure drills on how to hide from mass murderers. Educators should not be forced to make impossible choices in harrowing attempts to protect students from the worst horrors imaginable.  

Research in 2024 by 97Percent, a bipartisan gun safety organization, revealed that 85% of gun owners support universal background checks and policies disqualifying violent offenders from owning guns. We must come together to pass commonsense reforms, such as a ban on assault weapons and background checks on gun show sales and transfers.
 

Resources: Responding to Gun Violence

Fighting for an End to Gun Violence in our Schools, Communities

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Educators Adela Ghadimi
“We need to have Congress act and take action that means something. To actually ensure that we don’t have to keep reliving these nightmares every couple of weeks.”
Quote by: Adela Ghadimi, Graduate Assistant, Florida
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