Schools, Places of Worship, Communities Under Fire
By Abdi "Lalee" Awad, MS
On the morning of August 27th, 2025, an attacker entered Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis during a mass, killing two children (ages 10 and 8) and injuring another eighteen individuals. On September 28th, an assailant opened fire at a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chapel in Michigan, where four people lost their lives and eight were injured. On October 3rd, four people were killed in a shooting at a Montana bar, prompting a lockdown in a neighborhood. Then, on October 25th, six people aged between 20 and 25 were wounded in a shooting at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania.
According to the Gun Violence Archive, these incidents have become a troubling trend in U.S. communities. Since the Columbine shooting in 1999, over 378,000 students have experienced gun violence in schools, according to Northwestern Institute for Policy Research, and will continue to unless serious dialogue about gun safety and gun violence takes place. So far, the Mass Shooting Tracker reports that there have been 419 mass shootings in 2025, defined as incidents in which four or more people are shot in a single outburst of violence. Just since October 2025, over 12,239 lives have been lost, and approximately 22,312 related injuries.
Broader Scope
Annually, over 40,000 Americans lose their lives to gun violence. Our nation has already experienced hundreds of shootings this year, resulting in hundreds of lives lost and over a thousand injuries. Additionally, feelings of trauma and insecurity are rising across the country, whether in schools, places of worship, shopping malls, or within our own communities. Most of the guns used in these tragic shootings have been purchased legally with little to no precautionary barriers in most states (Higgins, 2022). This ever-present epidemic of gun violence has affected every aspect of life and the very fabric of our society, stealing our sense of security.
Studies found that students who attended schools where shootings occurred are more likely to develop chronic school absenteeism and repeat a grade (Crawford, 2021). Less likely to graduate from high school, enroll in college, earn a bachelor’s degree, or hold a job as young adults. Further, researchers found a 21 percent increase in the use of antidepressants among young people under the age of 20 in areas where their communities experience school shootings (Crawford, 2021).
Moreover, according to the American Psychological Association, studies have documented that survivors and witnesses of mass shootings tend to suffer severely and have increased posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depression, anxiety disorders, substance use disorder, and other conditions experienced by individuals who have survived a mass shooting.
The fact pattern raises questions of how risk is identified and prevented before the trigger is pulled in order to avoid another tragedy, to preserve precious lives, and reassure the community’s sense of security. Places meant for learning, worship, and community gathering have become a gun range, making the trauma multiply. Children, educators, families, and our communities don’t just lose loved ones; they lose a sense of sanctuary. As one U.S. lawmaker (Senator Chris Murphy) put it, “There is something deeply wrong with a country that chooses to make running for their lives part of kids’ back to school ritual” (Sherman, 2025).
Systemic Issues & the Cost of Gun Violence
It is also essential to address the systems of oppression and poverty that contribute to rising gun violence in our underserved communities. We need to move beyond superficial, race- and fear-based comments and confront the underlying issues, such as institutional and structural racism. These factors are fueling gun violence in many communities across the nation (Hyde, 2025).
Black and Hispanic youth are 11 times (Black youth) and 2.5 times (Hispanic youth) more than likely to die as a result of gun violence than their white counterparts.
Young Black females aged 15 to 34 are over six times more likely to be killed by a firearm compared to their white counterparts.
Young Latina females (aged 15 to 24) are nearly 1.4 times more likely, and Indigenous females in the same age group are almost three times more likely to die from firearm homicide than their white peers.
Further, researchers believe that exposure to racism and adverse childhood experiences, like trauma, has significantly contributed to the BIPOC children’s increasing suicide attempts and other gun violence. For instance, Black students are more likely to be funneled into the criminal justice system, as opposed to the mental health care system, which is often less accessible to individuals from marginalized communities compared to their white counterparts.
Gun violence costs U.S. taxpayers $557 billion annually, which is equivalent to 2.6% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product. That’s more than twice what the Department of Education spent to educate US youth in 2022 ($235.74 billion). In other words, annually, gun violence costs taxpayers $12.62 billion or $273,904 per firearm death and $25,150 per nonfatal firearm injury. The States with weaker gun laws pay the bulk of the cost associated with gun violence, compared to the states with stronger gun laws.
Over 75,000 people in the United States survive gun violence incidents, face life-changing and long-lasting injuries and trauma that come with unbearable economic costs for their communities at large. Each year, $2.8 billion is spent on immediate and long-term medical care, including mental health care, ambulance services, and patient transport.
End Gun Violence & Embrace Human Rights Issues
At Mindbridge, we are committed to human rights and view the prevention and elimination of gun violence as a vital public health and human rights issue facing our nation. The goals for our communities and of our policymakers should be to avoid and preserve lives from gun violence and the underlying human and social trauma that comes with gun violence.
What now? Engage in:
Community-Based Violence Prevention: Focus on interventions in places and populations at high risk of gun homicide, offering conflict mediation (restorative practices/justice), and outreach.
Firearm Policies/Laws: Support and advocate for stronger safe storage, expanding red-flag laws, universal background checks, and limits on weapon types or magazine capacities.
Trauma & Recovery: Advocate for Expansion of long-term support (counselling, rebuilding community trust, community circle conversation) for schools and communities hit by gun violence.
It is clear that students, teachers, and community members are not safe from gun violence. When our school and community space becomes a site of carnage, we need to ask how much more of these incidents we can endure before our leaders, policy, and lawmakers adopt common-sense laws that address preventable losses of lives.
Finally, we must recognize that the cost of inaction is reflected not only in news headlines but in lives, communities, the futures of children, and society as a whole.
References & Further Reading:
Hyde, J. S. (2025). The Psychology of Gun Violence
How Smart Choices Can Save Lives. Prometheus.
Parsons, C., & Weigend, E. (2016). America Under Fire: An Analysis of Gun Violence in the United States and the Link to Weak Gun Laws.
Responsible Gun Ownership: Best Practices for Safety and Community Engagement.
Brady United Against Gun Violence. Economic costs of gun violence.
Brady United. Gun violence is a racial justice issue.
Crawford, K. (2021). New study on gun violence in schools identifies long-term harms. Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research.
Sherman, A. (2025, August 29). Fact check: Have mass shootings decreased in the US since the 2022 law. Al Jazeera.
American Psychological Association. (September, 2022). Mass shootings and collective traumas.
Higgins, A. (2022, May 16). Legal gun purchases rise amid mass shootings, sparking debate. The New York Times.
Brady United Against Gun Violence. Economic costs of gun violence.
The Guardian. (2025, August 2). Four killed in Montana bar shooting that is US’s ninth mass murder of 2025.
ABC Action 6 News. (2025, October 27). 1 dead, 6 others injured after shooting during homecoming celebration at Lincoln University
ABC News. (2025, September 30). Gunman in Michigan LDS church shooting a veteran of Iraq war.
