Princeton student calls for policy change to counter U.S. gun violence: report

NEW YORK, June 16 (Xinhua) -- The issue of gun violence is as transparent as it can be in the United States, with 45,222 people dying of gun-related injuries in the country in 2020, more than any other year on record, The Telegraph reported on Monday.

"What we didn't see, however, was meaningful policy change," said the author Uma Menon, an 18-year-old student from Winter Park, Florida, who is studying public and international affairs at Princeton University, in an opinion article titled "Thoughts and prayers aren't enough."

"Each year in Florida, where I grew up, we sat through active shooter drills just as often as we prepared for hurricanes. We watched headlines of school after school being hit by tragedy. We witnessed the construction of wire fences around our school as a superficial form of safety," said Menon.

On average, there is one mass shooting with roughly 110 people killed by gun violence per day in this country, said the article, noting that gun violence, which the Centers for Disease Control defined as a public health crisis, has now become the top cause of death for children and adolescents across the United States.

"We need comprehensive reform that limits the circulation of assault weapons and promotes responsible gun ownership in our country," wrote the college student. "We need to raise awareness about the dangers of loose regulations that mitigates the likelihood of violence."