When I went to Olathe East, gun violence wasn’t a worry. We all know what has changed

I remember with clarity what Olathe East High School was like for me. I remember the halls, the classrooms, the open, airy feeling of the lobby where we ate lunch and gathered between classes. I remember so many of my formative experiences at Olathe East: driving by myself for the first time, applying for college, making the tennis team. I never, not even once, felt unsafe. There were occasionally fights where the school resource officer had to intervene, but there never was a reason to fear for my life.

I don’t want that feeling to be a wistful memory of a bygone era. I want that to be a reality for any child or teenager going to school — not just at my former school, but every school. I think about what made my experience a reality 18 years ago and why that’s a stretch for today’s students. The answer seems so simple: Guns were not as prevalent, and there were more legal protections. There were no laws allowing open carry. There were more requirements for background checks. People were required to have a permit to carry a concealed gun.

Americans have a constitutional right to bear arms. Commonsense gun laws do not in any way challenge that. There is no push to have all guns taken away from responsible, law abiding owners. What we need is for our children to be able to go to school, like we did, without fear of gun violence. No one, student or staff, should have to enter a school building and fear for their safety.

More guns in the schools are not the answer. Putting metal detectors at school entrances is not the answer. What we need is an answer that addresses the actual problem, not the side effects. We need laws that regulate guns in our community. We need accountability for lawmakers at every level who send thoughts and prayers but do not use their privileged positions to take real action to make our communities safer.

It is simply too easy to have a gun in Kansas. It is too easy to purchase one, own one and openly carry it virtually anywhere. Eighteen years ago, when I was a student at Olathe East High School, we did not have a school shooting. We did not have active shooter drills. While I concede that correlation does not imply causation, the fact remains that the more permissive gun laws have become, the more gun violence has taken place.

I feel like a broken record writing this. My view is not unique. It is not revelatory. I feel moved to express my thoughts in this public way because we need to show our representatives that the status quo is putting us and our children in real and immediate danger. We need effective laws that regulate guns so that school shootings can once again disappear from the high school experience.

This story was originally published March 8, 2022 at 5:00 AM.