The tragic murder of Charlie Kirk is yet another trauma we have suffered in our national nightmare that is gun violence.
We live in a country where firearms have become the leading cause of death for children and teens. Where there are more guns than people. Where the sound of gunshots echo from classrooms, churches and city streets day after day and year after year. This year alone there have been more than 300 mass shootings in America so far.
This isn’t normal. It isn’t inevitable. It’s a preventable public health crisis – and we can and must do something about it.
As a medical doctor and governor of Hawaii, I’ve seen how gun violence shatters lives, destroys families and takes children from their parents. I also know that most Americans – gun owners and non-owners alike – support commonsense action to prevent gun violence.
Let me be clear: I am not against gun ownership. I know many responsible gun owners – veterans, hunters, collectors and everyday citizens who take safety seriously. In Hawaii, we have among the lowest gun death rates in the country, in part because we balance rights with safety. That model can work elsewhere, too.
But we keep running into the same barrier: political paralysis, fueled by fear, misinformation and a powerful minority more committed to extreme ideology than to saving lives.
America is not uniquely violent. But we have unique access to deadly firearms – and we are uniquely unwilling, at the national level, to regulate guns in ways that keep us safer, save lives and match the will of the people. That must change.
Why Does America Have So Much Gun Violence?
The United States suffers dramatically higher rates of gun violence than any other developed nation. In 2023, more than 46,000 Americans died from gun-related injuries – equivalent to a gun death every 11 minutes. More than half of these deaths were suicides. Others were homicides, often involving young men and handguns. Mass shootings, though a small fraction of overall gun deaths, are rising in frequency.
Why us?
The short answer: unregulated access to guns.
The U.S. has about 120 guns per 100 people – more than twice the rate of the next closest country, Yemen, which has about 53 per 100. We also have a patchwork of laws with gaping loopholes, weak enforcement and enormous variation between states. In some places, background checks are universal, and red-flag laws protect those at risk. In others, a person can buy an AR-15 in less time than it takes to register to vote.
Other countries act when gun violence surges. After a 1996 mass shooting, Australia enacted sweeping gun reforms, and that nation’s rates of mass shootings and suicides fell dramatically. Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany and Canada all regulate guns with far more consistency – and suffer a fraction of our gun-related deaths.
We often hear that these nations lack our constitutional protections. But the Second Amendment doesn’t prohibit safety. It demands responsibility. The Supreme Court has ruled repeatedly that regulation is compatible with the right to bear arms.
Changes the Majority of Americans Support
We are not as divided on this issue as some would have us believe. About 60% of Americans believe it is too easy to legally obtain a gun, and favor stricter gun laws.
Poll after poll shows overwhelming support for licensing laws. A majority of Americans also support red-flag laws, safe storage laws, waiting periods, raising the minimum age to buy semiautomatic rifles, and limits on high-capacity magazines and military-style weapons. These aren’t radical ideas. They are mainstream, and they save lives – states with stronger gun laws consistently have fewer gun deaths.
What We Can Do Now
I believe we must approach gun violence the same way we would approach any public health emergency – with evidence, compassion and urgency. Here are steps we can take right now:
- Universal background checks: Require them for all gun sales – no exceptions. This is the foundation of any responsible system.
- Age restrictions and licensing: Raise the minimum age for purchasing assault-style weapons. Require licenses for certain categories of firearms, just as we do for driving a car.
- Invest in mental health care: Expand access to therapy, crisis intervention and suicide prevention – especially in rural and underserved areas – and make access to mental health care available 24/7 across America.
- Red-flag laws: Allow courts to temporarily remove firearms from individuals who pose a clear threat to themselves or others, with due process.
- Waiting periods: Implement short delays between purchase and possession to reduce impulsive violence, especially suicides and domestic incidents.
- Close loopholes: End gun show and private sale exemptions. Improve reporting to the background check system, including domestic violence and mental health records.
- Safe storage requirements: Mandate secure storage in homes, particularly where children are present. Incentivize compliance through tax credits and public awareness campaigns.
- Hold manufacturers accountable: Repeal the federal immunity that shields gun makers from most lawsuits. No industry should be above accountability.
- Support community violence intervention: Fund local programs that mediate conflict, mentor at-risk youth and rebuild trust between communities and law enforcement.
- Fund research and data collection: Restore federal support for gun violence research and establish reliable systems to track injuries, deaths and near-misses.
These measures won’t eliminate all gun violence. But together, they will save thousands of lives each year. They respect the rights of law-abiding gun owners. They are consistent with the Constitution – and they are overwhelmingly supported by the American people.
The Second Amendment is not a suicide pact. It does not require us to stand by as our students are shot in school, women are shot by abusive partners and people in crisis turn to the nearest gun. Freedom also means being able to send our kids to school without fearing that they could be shot.
Gun violence is not just a tragedy. It’s a failure of our political system.
It’s what happens when the will of the majority is held hostage by a powerful minority: an industry that profits from fear and politicians who thrive on division. But we can break this cycle.
We’ve done it before. We made cars safer. We cut smoking rates in half. We tackled AIDS and opioids and COVID-19 with science and resolve. We can do the same with guns.
It starts with electing leaders who are not afraid to act. With supporting candidates – regardless of party – who put our kids before corporate profits. With holding lawmakers accountable when they choose lobbyists over lives.
And it starts with a national awakening – a refusal to accept this as our fate. We are not doomed to this future. We can write a different story. One where America leads not in gun violence, but in common sense and courage.