After the gunfire, the silence is deafening

The Bend, Oregon, shooting is the latest in hundreds of shootings recorded this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive. According to CNN's tracking, there have been 52 school shootings in the United States in 2026. Every day, nearly 130 Americans are killed with guns, and more than 200 are shot and wounded, according to Everytown for Gun Safety.

As Simon and Garfunkel lamented in their legendary ballad "The Sound of Silence," silence can grow like a cancer. The gun violence cancer continues to expand and metastasize. Given the seeming normalization of this repetitive affliction, saying and doing nothing ignores the intense community pain that always leaves deep and lasting scars. Each school shooting forever impacts the parents, classmates, teachers and administrators in the numerous places where "it could not happen here."

The armed individual who miraculously interrupted the Bend, Oregon, shooter's rampage is undoubtedly a hero. But his response will no doubt serve as cannon fodder for the NRA's old saw that the fix for a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. Arming ordinary people, such as classroom teachers, is not a practical fix for dealing with a homicidal individual hellbent on murder and mayhem. That's akin to arguing that the fix for the opioid problem is more opioids.

There are more guns in America than Americans, according to a 2018 Washington Post report. But the statistic of 120 guns for every 100 residents is by no means the sole cause of mass shootings.

Such tragedies have become far too commonplace in the last three decades. This particular period spawned both a proliferation of guns and unprecedented Second Amendment orthodoxy. A significant turning point was the 2004 expiration of the federal assault weapons ban, enacted in 1994 and previously codified in 18 U.S.C. § 922. The ensuing 2005 Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act insulates the gun industry from certain liability claims arising from the misuse of firearms. As its key provision proclaims: "Businesses ... engaged in sale to the public of firearms or ammunition ... are not, and should not, be liable for the harm caused by those who ... misuse firearm products...." 15 U.S.C. § 7901(a)(5). Car manufacturers do not enjoy a like exemption from liability. Nor do pharmaceutical companies or other consumer product manufacturers.

The U.S. Supreme Court has contributed to the contemporary weapons proliferation. In 2008, its majority departed from longstanding interpretations of the Second Amendment by determining that it protects an individual right to possess guns in the home for self-defense, rather than only in connection with militia service. District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570. In 2022, the court extended that right, striking down a New York law requiring applicants to demonstrate a special need to carry firearms outside the home. New York State Rifle & Pistol Assn. v. Bruen, 597 U.S. 1.

The court's Dec. 2 oral argument will address the controversy surrounding assault rifles and large-capacity magazines in Viramontes v. Cook County, 146 S. Ct. 2813 (Mem.), case below 2025 WL 1553896. This particular gunfight is the latest round in the court's evolving 21st-century approach to gun rights. The dissenters will likely ask whether hunters need an AR-15 assault rifle and oversized magazine to shoot a deer.

The above resources focus on facts and figures. But they do nothing to dissipate the crushing silence after each shooting's short-lived news cycle; the silence that engulfs surviving victims, families and acquaintances who witness the aftermath of these horrific events; and the unimaginable silence lodged in the nation's now-empty bedrooms of murdered children.

We can all do something to displace that silence. Voting is a minimal first step and an effective tactic for electing political candidates who best represent our views on gun violence prevention. We can also learn who our congressional representatives are, then contact their offices to voice our expectations. While not always immediately productive, that communication can solidify constituent messaging that overcomes head-in-the-sand silence.

Moving further up the action ladder, we can protest. That can take many forms. Discussions with those with whom we disagree are, sadly, a missing component in the national gun dialogue. We should thus look for answers and ask the right questions. Those who cannot reach across the aisle will continue to preach to their respective choirs. Perhaps the most productive remedy for actively addressing today's tsunami of gun violence is to join a gun violence prevention group. This is a credible alternative to mere thoughts, prayers and silence.

Finally, one can also write an op-ed. It is a thought-provoking means of managing one's rage at the senseless carnage we too frequently witness.

But if we do nothing, think about who shares responsibility when gun violence explodes into our schools, homes and workplaces. As a familiar saying often attributed to the 18th-century philosopher Edmund Burke warns, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men [and women] should do nothing." (Fred Shapiro, ed., The New Yale Book of Quotations, Yale University Press, revised edition, 2021, p. 122.)