Republican Senator and vice presidential candidate JD Vance recently addressed the tragic school shooting in Georgia, stating, “I don’t like that this is a fact of life.” The “fact of life” he was referring to is the epidemic of gun violence that plagues our schools, communities, and future. What makes his comment truly alarming isn’t just the resignation of this reality but the complete absence of real solutions. Vance may not like that gun violence is a fact of life, but he, along with his party, continues to refuse to act — choosing inaction over protection.
This is the “fact of life” that Gen Z has been forced to accept: one political party has decided that our future does not matter.
Republicans like Senator Vance, instead of confronting the causes of gun violence, have chosen to surrender to it. They’ve accepted mass shootings, the murder of children, and the terror we live with as an inevitable part of American life. They tell us that they don’t like it, but their inaction shows that they are content to leave us to deal with the consequences. It’s as if our safety, our lives, and our futures have become collateral damage in their desperate attempt to hold on to a distorted view of American freedom.
He tries to downplay the horror of mass shootings by noting that not all injuries were gun-related as if this minimizes the trauma experienced by the survivors. It’s another attempt to explain away the violence and avoid taking responsibility for meaningful action.
Former President Trump echoed this detachment, posting to Truth Social, “Our hearts are with the victims and loved ones of those affected by the tragic event in Winder, GA.”
It’s a familiar refrain, one that has become synonymous with inaction. Every time a tragedy like this happens, we hear the same hollow expression of sympathy with no plans to stop it from happening again. They acknowledge the pain but offer no solutions.
The “fact of life” that Vance, Trump, and Collins are signaling to Gen Z is this: We should expect to live under the constant threat of violence because they have no intention of changing it. They’ve abandoned their responsibility to protect us. Instead, they appease a radical faction of their base.
They are willing to ignore the Preamble of the United States Constitution, which calls on us to “insure domestic tranquility” and “promote the general Welfare.”
Black families across generations have, in one way or another, experienced how guns have been wielded to terrorize or control our communities. This violence is personal for me. My grandfather, Dwight Taylor, was the second person shot and killed during the Rodney King civil unrest in 1992. He was killed in a time of political and social unrest that echoes what we are experiencing now.
Today, that violence is protected more fiercely than ever by a political party that refuses to act on gun violence, not because they don’t understand the threat but because they fear the changing world around them.
The same energy that drives their defense of guns also fuels their attacks on public schools, their rewriting of American history, their denial of women’s rights, and their refusal to address economic and health disparities. It’s all connected to one fundamental truth: they are terrified of change.
Republicans oppose even the most basic and widely supported common sense gun safety measures, like universal background checks and red flag laws. They twist the Second Amendment to justify this madness. But let’s be clear: the Second Amendment was never meant to create a society where weapons of war are used against children in their schools. The Founders could never have envisioned the terror we face today.
And who bears the brunt of this fear? We do — Gen Z. We are told to spot the signs of troubled peers as if we are the frontline defense against mass murder. We are trained to barricade doors and hide under desks while politicians refuse to tackle the root causes of violence. They are asking teenagers — many of whom cannot even vote — to solve a crisis that they themselves have allowed to fester.
Gen Z, and especially Black Gen Z, will not accept politicians and political parties who offer only “thoughts and prayers” while we bury our friends and family.
We’ve inherited a system of fear and violence, but we refuse to let it define our future. If you’re not registered to vote or unsure about voting, let Georgia’s events be a wake-up call. Our generation cannot afford to sit this out. It’s our responsibility to ensure the next generation doesn’t endure the same.
We’re tired of being sick and tired. It’s time for real change — for us, the next generation, and the country we all want to live in.