On Feb 14, students arrived at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL, USA, like they did on most days, keen to learn and mix with their friends. They started their day completely unaware of the events that were about to unfold. On that date, a lone gunman, a former student at the school, entered the school grounds with a semiautomatic weapon and shot 14 students and three teachers dead.

America is no stranger to such mass shootings in schools or public places. Parkland is the eighth school shooting that has resulted in injury or death in the USA in 2018. Columbine, Sandy Hook, Virginia Tech, and Parkland are just a few of the school firearms massacres that have captured national and international attention. These shocking events are followed by a now familiar cycle of grief, anger, public outcry, advocacy for greater gun control, and attempts at policy change, which ultimately fail due to the powerful gun lobby in the USA and public support for the Second Amendment that protects the right to keep and bear arms.

But there is something different about this latest tragedy. That difference is the response from young Americans. They have mobilised and voiced their views on gun control in an unprecedented and extraordinary way. On Feb 21, a week after the shooting at Parkland, young people in Florida stormed the Capitol demanding that lawmakers enact tougher gun control measures. Students from Parkland have been promoting a clear message to politicians: they want the mass shooting that took place at their school to be the last. Young people have held rallies and started social media campaigns, including #NeverAgain. Nationally, a school walkout is planned for March 14 and the March for Our Lives protest is set to take place on March 24. Young people have had enough. They do not want empty declarations of sympathy without any action following mass shootings; they want policy and change.

Gun violence is a huge public health problem in America. More than 38 600 people were killed by guns in homicides and suicides in the USA in 2016, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Some 85 000 people were injured by firearms in 2015. The country's gun homicide rate is more than 25 times higher than that of other high-income countries. The toll on America's youngest citizens is substantial and unacceptable: nearly 1300 children and adolescents aged 17 years or younger die in gun homicides and suicides each year, and a further 5790 are treated for gunshot wounds.

A multifaceted approach is needed to control guns in the USA including universal background checks and mandatory licences for adults to own firearms and ammunition, a total ban on assault weapons, and reversal of the 1996 amendment to a spending bill that prevents the CDC from advocating or promoting gun control. What is certainly not needed is President Trump's suggestion to give teachers guns to tackle shooters entering school grounds. Turning schools into armed battlegrounds is not the answer; guns make schools more unsafe. Teachers, parents, students, and health advocates should strongly oppose this proposal.

Paediatricians can play a vital role in advising parents about gun safety. The American Academy of Pediatrics states that the best way to keep children safe from injury or death from guns is to never have a gun in the home. If there is one, it must be kept locked up and unloaded, with ammunition locked up in a separate place.

There are already positive signs of change following the youth activism unfolding in the USA. A Twitter campaign—#BoycottNRA—urging US companies to stop receiving funds from the National Rifle Association (NRA) and to remove NRA member privileges is gaining momentum. Such a backlash against the powerful pro-gun group could be the tipping point that is needed in this previously intractable debate.

On Feb 22, former US president Barack Obama tweeted: “Young people have helped lead all our great movements. How inspiring to see it again in so many smart, fearless students standing up for their right to be safe; marching and organizing to remake the world as it should be. We've been waiting for you. And we've got your backs.” We also applaud and support the young Americans advocating to end gun violence, and we urge parents, health professionals, and politicians to listen and stand by them. We call on other child and adolescent health organisations, in the USA and beyond, to show their solidarity with this youth campaign. The momentum young people have created in American's gun control debate must not be squandered.

CDC statistics on deaths by firearms in the USA see Forsee https://webappa.cdc.gov/sasweb/ncipc/mortrate.html

Copyright © 2018 Lorie Shaull