AMSA Statement on Recent Campus Violence and the Public Health Crisis of Gun Violence

After a week marked by horrific violence and continued threats to student safety on college campuses nationwide, the American Medical Student Association (AMSA) reaffirms that gun violence is a public health epidemic. As future physicians in training, we refuse to accept this current status quo and call for commonsense policy solutions guided by science and evidence. 

On September 10, 2025, Charlie Kirk was fatally shot at Utah Valley University. That same day, students were injured at a shooting which took place at Evergreen High School in Colorado. On September 11, 2025, at least six different HBCUs received anti-black, violent, and racist threats. All students deserve to learn free from threats of violence and fear.

This week is not an outlier. In 2025 alone, at least 100 incidents of gunfire on school grounds have been identified by Everytown for Gun Safety.1 Gun violence is the current leading cause of death for young people in the U.S.2 As future physicians, we strongly condemn this immoral and unjust state of affairs. 

As escalating violence continues to endanger participation in civic life and the ability to safely receive an education, AMSA affirms the fundamental human right to live free from firearm violence. We urge comprehensive action to prevent firearm violence and protect the future of our democracy. 

We understand the research: commonsense solutions to gun violence exist. Our Preambles, Purposes, and Principles clearly outline many of the federal- and state-level solutions that must be implemented by our policymakers in power, including: 

• Requiring universal background checks for all firearm transfers3
• Enacting a ban on assault weapons (as defined by a one-feature test), which includes parts that may be readily assembled into an assault weapon and expressly prohibits the possession, sale, purchase, transfer, loan, transportation, distribution, importation, and manufacture of such weapons4 
• Subjecting the sale, transfer, and manufacture of both completed and unfinished frames and receivers to the same legislation that relates to fully assembled firearms5
• Prohibiting the sale, transfer, manufacture, and possession of undetectable firearms by requiring that all operable firearms be detectable by standard screening systems5

International Impact of U.S. Gun Violence: 

Gun violence is currently perceived by all parts of society, including large institutional health organizations and the media, as an epidemic that threatens the credence of the U.S. as a developed nation with a safe and healthy society. Some travelers from outside of the U.S. actively avoid visiting this country out of concern of going to a place where gun violence appears to be comparatively out of control. The societal ramifications of gun violence in the U.S. constitute an increasingly dire threat to the country’s international reputation, public health leadership, and educational competitiveness. AMSA has a duty to stand and speak up for a clear, evidence-based, and international-minded agenda in support of these issues.

• The U.S., historically a leader in public health innovations, faces criticism for failing to address gun violence as a preventable public health crisis. This diminishes the country’s moral authority in global health forums.
• U.S. universities are traditionally destinations for international students and scholars, but persistent gun violence on and around campuses threatens their ability to provide a safe academic environment for their current and prospective students, their subsequent ability to recruit new students, and global educational stature.
• Restrictions on gun violence research such as the Dickey Amendment have made the U.S. unique among high-income countries for its lack of robust gun injury data and prevention science, drawing negative attention from societies that prioritize their focus to research and address these issues appropriately.

Actions We Can Take Now: 

In response, AMSA continues to take the lead in helping future physicians gain the tool to address firearm violence. In 2022, AMSA’s Medical Students for Gun Safety (MSGS) Campaign launched a national Firearm Violence Prevention Curriculum Guide, “Integrating Firearm Safety into Medical School Curricula”.6 This guide was created by members of our MSGS Steering Committee and is designed to provide a comprehensive resource and roadmap for firearm violence prevention in medical education, empowering medical students and faculty to be advocates and clinicians.

Future physicians must be part of the solution, now more than ever. Please fill out this interest form to stay connected with us as we continue to advocate for gun violence prevention. We call on our members to join us, as we lift our collective voice in demanding change. 

Citations:

1. Gunfire on School Grounds in the United States. Everytown for Gun Safety. Updated September 10, 2025. Accessed September 12, 2025. https://everytownresearch.org/maps/gunfire-on-school-grounds/ 
2. Villarreal, S., Kim, R., Wagner, E., Somayaji, N., Davis, A., & Crifasi, C. K. (2024). Gun Violence in the United States 2022: Examining the Burden Among Children and Teens. Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
3. Ghost Guns. Giffords. April 2, 2025. Accessed September 18, 2025. https://giffords.org/lawcenter/gun-laws/policy-areas/hardware-ammunition/ghost-guns/.
4. Assault Weapons. Giffords. September 9, 2025. Accessed September 18, 2025. https://giffords.org/lawcenter/gun-laws/policy-areas/hardware-ammunition/assault-weapons/#key-elements.
5. Universal Background Checks. Giffords. August 27, 2025. Accessed September 18, 2025. https://giffords.org/lawcenter/gun-laws/policy-areas/background-checks/universal-background-checks/#h-key-legislative-elements. 
6. American Medical Student Association. (2022, March 17). AMSA’s Medical Students for Gun Safety Campaign. https://www.amsa.org/amsas-medical-students-for-gun-safety-campaign/
7. Childs, Kevin Lavelle, “A Document Analysis of School Shooting on College Campuses” (2025). Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. 17311. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/17311
8. Jacob Ware. (2025, July 9). American 3. Gun Violence Goes Global. Foreign Affairs. https://www.foreignaffairs.com/united-states/american-gun-violence-goes-global.
9. Kaufman E.J., Delgado M.K. The Epidemiology of Firearm Injuries in the US – The Need for Comprehensive, Real-time, Actionable Data. JAMA. 2022; Vol. 328 N. 12: 1177-1178.
10. Lemieux, F. (2025, June 17). Mass Shootings in the United States. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Criminology. Retrieved 12 Sep. 2025, from https://oxfordre.com/criminology/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264079.001.0001/acrefore-9780190264079-e-899.
11. MILBURN, T., & SYED, I. U. (2024). An interdisciplinary examination of a gunshot detection system: The public health context of a policing technology. Critical Social Policy, 45(1), 148-164. https://doi.org/10.1177/02610183241262726 (Original work published 2025)