Florida State University (FSU) made international news on Thursday, April 17, 2025, when Phoenix Ikner opened fire in the green outside the Oglesby Student Union. Two were killed and six were injured. Students ran, barricaded themselves in classrooms without locks on the doors, and sent “I love you” texts to their friends and family.
The FSU shooting fell between two anniversaries of other infamous school shootings: Virginia Tech (April 16, 2007) and Columbine High School (April 20, 1999).
Gen Z has witnessed numerous school shootings. Following the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL, my own Florida high school started providing active shooter training once a year. They color-coded our hallways to make it easier for law enforcement to navigate and taped off “hard corners,” or designated “safe zones,” in case of an active shooter situation.
Despite preparedness efforts, mass shootings in the U.S. keep happening, so let’s take a look at the history of firearm legislation and its future.
Gun Laws Before Columbine
The first major law placed on firearms in the U.S. was the National Firearms Act of 1934, which taxed the sale and transfer of firearms and required them to be registered. Following the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr., and John F. Kennedy, the Gun Control Act of 1968 tightened regulations, expanded the definitions of firearms, and added new possibilities for firearm offenses.
Later, the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (also known as the Clinton Crime Bill) was passed to include the Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Act, disallowing the possession, transfer, or manufacture of semi-automatic assault weapons.
Developments in Gun Laws
Following Columbine in 1999, the Clinton Crime Bill expired in 2004. Despite numerous efforts to enact a similar federal law, no legislation has been passed since. They were close in 2022 when the Assault Weapons Bill of 2022 passed the U.S. House of Representatives but didn’t pass the Senate. Only 10 states currently have laws banning semi-automatic weapons.
The most significant changes in gun-related policy came after the Sandy Hook shooting in 2012 and the Parkland shooting in 2018. Following Sandy Hook, Connecticut lawmakers tightened firearm restrictions, requiring background checks for purchases, and continue to pass restrictions. Three weeks after the Parkland shooting, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act was passed in Florida, most notably raising the minimum age to purchase a firearm in Florida from 18 to 21.
The Future and the Second Amendment
Only miles away at the Florida State Capitol, a cruel irony of the FSU shooting was HB 759 sitting in the hands of the Florida Senate. This bill, if enacted, would lower the minimum age requirement to purchase a firearm back to 18, reversing the progress from the 2018 act. A slap in the face to some FSU students who not only experienced Thursday’s shooting but also survived the shooting at Parkland as high school freshmen.
When asked about the possibility of increased gun regulations in response to the FSU shooting, President Donald Trump said, “I have an obligation to protect the Second Amendment. I ran on the Second Amendment, among many other things, and I will always protect the right Second Amendment.”
Frankly, this is the stance of many politicians, especially Republican ones. As political tensions continue to rise in the U.S., more politicians refuse to compromise. Some argue for a total ban similar to the one imposed by the United Kingdom. In 1997, British Parliament passed the Firearms (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 1997, effectively banning the ownership and use of handguns in the UK. This law was passed after the Dunblane Massacre, the deadliest school shooting in the UK, in 1996. Since then, there have been no other school shootings in the UK.
With many Americans having strong opinions about the Second Amendment and the current Republican-dominated administration, a total ban isn’t likely. However, gun violence is a problem. Gun control should be treated as a nonpartisan issue in order to ensure the safety of U.S. citizens, whether out in public or in schools.
As the FSU and Tallahassee community mourn, hopefully, a compromise will be seen in the near future.
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