By Chloe Crowell ’25
The Uvalde School shooting took the lives of 19 children and two adults when a lone gunman violently stormed into Robb Elementary School on May 24, 2022, in Uvalde, Texas.⁷ This shooting has continued to disturb and horrify citizens nationwide at the threat of unprecedented violence in the United States. However, contrary to popular belief, firearm deaths are reportedly more common in rural underprivileged areas of the United States than in urban areas.
It is often believed, due to media publication and commonly assumed dangers of living in a city, that gun violence occurs more often in urban neighborhoods within the United States. However, this is a disproportionate ideology. According to recent research from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, “The most rural counties had a 25 percent higher overall firearm death rate than the most urban counties…”.¹ Though several factors contribute to increasing gun violence in rural and underprivileged areas of the United States, the most significant are accessibility to firearms, the impact of social and economic inequities, and the lack of mental and physical healthcare in these communities.
The Pew Research Center States that, “About seven-in-ten Americans who grew up in a rural area (72%) say there were guns in their household growing up…”⁴
Gun producers are federally required to perform background checks, however, state legislation can alter this clause. In rural communities and many states, salespeople are not required to perform extensive background checks on consumers. Many underprivileged communities have unsupervised access to guns and firearms, greatly increasing the risk of violence among these communities. Unsupervised access to gun usage allows crime to occur with less consequences and endangers the safety of others. Many argue for creating stricter universal background checks, but a lack of bipartisanship within congressional powers has failed to do so.⁴
Gun violence is more recurrent in underprivileged rural areas because of various socioeconomic inequities these communities face. Underprivileged neighborhoods and communities that face gun violence are most commonly composed of people of color structured around many social inequities. Racist and prejudiced policies, such as redlining, limit community safety and prosperity. Redlining denies members of these communities financial, educational, and medical aid to thrive. Poverty concentration also contributes to gun violence. The poverty rate is often increasing in underserved communities because of limitations to education and a lack of state and federal funding.³ Without the equity many other communities have achieved with privilege, underprivileged neighborhoods are more vulnerable to gun violence as these factors create unsafe communities. Gun violence further extends the consequences and continuous pattern of economic inequities within underprivileged communities. Because these factors endanger citizens worldwide, many are trying to take measures to eliminate gun violence.
While underserved communities are vulnerable to social and economic equities, they also face unequal distribution of healthcare services. Healthcare inequalities create a negative impact on mental wellness, a contributing factor to the increasing statistic of gun violence in underprivileged communities. The government has worked to enact laws such as the Extreme Risk Protective Order which allows citizens to file a risk order to remove weapons from mentally unstable citizens. However, processing an Extreme Risk Protective Order takes time, allowing crime and firearm usage to escalate quickly.¹ Discrimination, as well as gaps in education and income, contribute to healthcare inequalities that citizens face daily. Healthcare services in rural areas are also disproportionate to those in urban areas. Because of the sparse population, the ratio of patients to medical providers is largely dominated by those needing assistance. Without equitable access to healthcare, citizens are left to struggle with physical and mental health disorders and are more susceptible to danger.
The multifaceted role firearms play in suicide and homicide in underserved communities only continues to impact citizens nationwide. Without socioeconomic and health equities being met, citizens are struggling to thrive, leading to disparities among communities. Many public health initiatives have set a precedent to decrease gun violence in underserved communities. Initiatives such as universal background checks and improving and expanding both the Affordable Care Act and Medicare work to lessen firearm usage, yet these initiatives have not been fully initiated in society. As a result, gun usage is still very prevalent within underserved communities.⁶
Extreme risk laws. (n.d.). Everytown. Retrieved October 6, 2023, from https://www.everytown.org/solutions/extreme-risk-laws/
Gun deaths are more likely in small towns than major cities. (2023, April 24). Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/news/gun-deaths-more-likely-small-towns-major-cities
Gun violence disproportionately and overwhelmingly hurts communities of color. (2022, June 30). Center for American Progress. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/gun-violence-disproportionately-and-overwhelmingly-hurts-communities-of-color/
Igielnik, R. (n.d.). Rural and urban gun owners have different experiences, views on gun policy. Pew Research Center. Retrieved October 4, 2023, from https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2017/07/10/rural-and-urban-gun-owners-have-different-experiences-views-on-gun-policy/
Still ringing the alarm: An enduring call to action for black youth suicide prevention | johns hopkins | bloomberg school of public health. (2023, August 23). https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2023/still-ringing-the-alarm-an-enduring-call-to-action-for-black-youth-suicide-prevention
UNDERSERVED POPULATIONS IN HEALTHCARE: 5 WAYS TO BRIDGE THE GAP. (n.d.). https://online.hpu.edu/blog/underserved-populations-in-healthcare
Uvalde school shooting. (2023, May 24). The Texas Tribune. https://www.texastribune.org/series/uvalde-texas-school-shooting/
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