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Guns are one of the leading causes of death among children and teens in the US. It is not car crashes, it is not cancer, it’s guns. 19% of all childhood deaths are the result of firearm use. Although most people know that statistic, they don't understand the gravity of it. My topic is firearm-caused deaths and how they can be prevented. This subject is important to me because my sister and I are of school age and schools are the most common targets of shooting incidents. If you are uncomfortable with this specific topic, you may leave the room now. I will be explaining the factors that lead to the increase of firearms incidents and identifying the signs to prevent shooting incidents. Firstly, I am going to talk about the number of active shooter incidents, defined as an individual engaging in killing or attempted killing in a populated area by the FBI, from the years 2000 to 2021. In 2000, only 3 active shooter incidents were recorded. In between the years 2000 and 2005, the amount of active shooter incidents increased by 8. In 2005, 11 active shooter incidents were recorded. In 2010, a jump from 11 to 27 in the span of 5 years. In 2017, the number reached 31, and from 2020 to 2021, active shooter incidents jumped from 40 to 61. In the past few years, there have been twice as many incidents as in the 11 years before that. This information is closely in line with the amount of gun sales, which have increased tremendously over time. According to the CDC, "More than 2,200 kids died gun-related deaths in 2020, the first time in the past 20 years that figure had broken 2,000." This means that children are increasingly dying or getting injured due to firearms. Unsecured firearms in the household are a huge factor. In the past few months, a 3-year-old in Florida died after shooting himself with his fathers handgun, unsecured and unlocked. In California, a 3-year-old killed his 1-year-old sister with a handgun, unsecured and unlocked. A 2-year-old in Michigan died after finding an “unsecured firearm.” On August 15, a 6-year-old in Florida was fatally shot by a 9-year-old. Unsecured + Unlocked= Unsafe. And according to the CDC, these numbers are only projected to increase. This only shows how much worse of a problem this has become over the past few years. What are the factors that lead a person to commit such a crime? How do mental health issues result in these shooting incidents? Normally, a person would think that the cause would be some kind of mental illness, but according to CBS News, only 8% of mass shooters were diagnosed with a severe mental illness like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. . They are less likely to use firearms in fact, but usually use other methods like baseball bats or their own bodies. 25% of shooters suffered from depression and/or anxiety, but that is in line with the normal population. Then what would be the defining factors of a future mass shooter? Well, a shooter has most likely experienced some kind of trauma. 42% went through physical and/or sexual abuse, parental suicide, and severe bullying during childhood. In adulthood, they can experience crises. Crisis is when something traumatic happens like a breakup or the death of a family member. Although those 2 are on very different sides of the spectrum, they are both a kind of crisis. 72% of shooters have been reported to be suicidal before or during the shooting. Think of Columbine shooters that killed themselves after killing those 15 people and the Sandy Hook shooter who also killed himself after killing 28 people. After a crisis is usually radicalization, which is when future shooters search for guidance. This could be directly from others or in chat rooms or reading manifestos from others. 44% of shooters leaked their plans in these chat rooms and on social media. All these things can lead to finding a way to access a firearm. 77% of shooters got a hold of these firearms via legal purchase close to the time of the shooting. by identifying the commonalities, shooting can be prevented by the thousands. We can now identify when intervention is needed. One of the things you yourself can do is just to be kind to someone who you know is struggling. The number of deaths involving some type of firearm has increased tremendously over the past decade. Gun violence has been too prominent an issue for too long and the fact that this kind of brutality has only increased over the years is gut wrenching. Children are getting a hold of a potentially dangerous weapon and hurting each other. The best thing you can possibly do is to be kind. I cannot stress this enough, being kind could save not only your life, but hundreds of lives. Before I walk off this fake stage, I want to have a moment of silence for the victims of mass shootings, the families left without answer, those with an empty spot in their family portraits.