In Other News

The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ASPA as an organization.

By Sarah Sweeney
August 4, 2025

As I opened my news platforms to see what might inspire this month’s submission, I began to notice an unsettling trend of violence that had occurred in the past 72 hours. It sparked a flurry of clickbait that pulled me in to a blackhole circulating around the right to bear arms and what that means in different communities across America. In Reno, Nevada, three people are dead and three more injured after a gunman opened fire in a resort casino. The suspect, as news sources indicate, was seen pacing the location prior to the unfolding event and came well prepared with multiple rounds of ammunition; the motivation behind this act remains unknown. On a college campus in Albuquerque, New Mexico, one person dead and another injured after a gun related incident. Atlanta, Georgia, one killed and ten injured during a mass shooting in a nightlife district and is believed to be at the hands of four suspects still at large. This was one of twelve gun related incidents over one weekend. In Greenville, North Carolina, they lost one teen and another injured in two separate shootings in one weekend. Milwaukee experienced nine people injured and at least one person dead after multiple gunshot incidents over the weekend. Lansing, Michigan, two separate shooting incidents left two people injured and one suspect later apprehended with no reported tie to either individual. Across the country in Manhattan, New York, an armored individual shot and killed three people in an unsuspecting office building and later turned his weapon on himself after barricading himself inside according to sources. And finally in Hampton, Virginia, one person is shot and killed outside an Amazon warehouse, ending a week’s worth of gun related incidents that included six victims across five separate incidents.

As I hopped into the rabbit hole and began my spiraling journey, I read about a Whitehouse Executive Order focused on Protecting Second Amendment Rights, which replaced a former surgeon general’s warning about gun violence as a public health crisis. This warning was issued in 2024 after striking reports showed increased gun violence across the nation. Never before had gun violence been considered a public health crisis, such as smoking or infectious disease outbreaks might be, and it occurred to me that constitutional right to bear arms has superseded the right to life, as evidenced by the above stories. Where do we draw the line and say “Enough is enough, we must do better?” It is certainly a trying time to be a public administrator, to know where to focus our energies and how to enlist the necessary support to make a difference in our communities. As we well know, the right to bear arms has been a hot topic in all arenas of public policy for some time, and really calls in to question how we value public safety. It is our duty as public administrators to guide the conversation and draw out the basic tenets of social responsibility, before it is too late. So if we break down the problem into manageable solutions, such as increased education, access to behavioral health services, workplace and school space safety programs and support for trauma survivors, we may turn the tide before our vulnerable citizens become mere statistics. Like in healthcare settings, prevention strategies are half the battle, and I encourage us all to suit up and prepare to push toward a brighter future. We can do this by supporting our law makers in making decisions that are in the best interest of health and human safety.

At the conclusion of my journey on this topic, I’m realizing there is a high probability that an increased focus on public policy relating to gun violence may require a back burner approach during this administration. This may be the opportunity to research and engage with community advocates doing this work so that we are ready to rebuild the structures that are actively dismantling around us. We might creatively address the underlying risk factors that lead to gun violence and prevent further insurgency against basic human rights to life. According to a public health site, in 2020 firearm deaths accounted for more years of potential life lost before the age of 65, which is more than diabetes, stroke and liver disease combined. If we look at possible solutions that utilize a public health lens I imagine we may paint a picture that is widely accessible to all communities across the country, particularly those who believe in gun ownership and use as a basic right. Don’t give up on each other, we have a long journey ahead and can only do this together.

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Author: Sarah Sweeney is a professional social worker and public administrator in Washington State.  She may be contacted at [email protected] 

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