A little over 19 years ago, I was sitting in my office in Henderson Building, when I heard a loud “CRACK”. It startled me enough that I stepped out into the hallway, and saw a few other faculty and staff who also had heard the sound. One faculty member commented, “That was a gunshot-no doubt.”  Over the next terrifying minutes and hours, we watched as just yards from our offices, Penn State joined the growing list of campuses where students were killed and injured by gunfire.

During the warmer months, I love to take my lunch out into the Peace Garden next to Henderson.  The quiet, shady garden, built in remembrance of that day, provides such a contrast to the chaos of the events of 1996. And as each of the events that followed piled tragedy upon tragedy, I just can’t grasp the reactions that seem to follow.

Americans recognized when our cars and road were unsafe.  We invested in research and education. We improved our roads, and created smart regulations that made our vehicles safer–airbags, better structural safety, seatbelts, and more.  And, as a result, deaths from motor vehicle accidents plunged from more than 54,000 per year to close to 30,000 per year. In other words, almost 25,000 Americans EVERY YEAR are saved by our efforts to make make roads and vehicles safer.

Americans recognized the dangers associated with tobacco.  We invested in research and education.  We improved fabrics and furniture, and created smart regulations that reduced access to cigarettes among youths and in public places where they harmed others. And, as a result, the number of people who use tobacco in the U.S. plummeted from more than 45 percent of the population to less than 20 percent. As a result, smoking related deaths in the U.S. have leveled off and should, in coming years, begin to decline. In other words, over the next several decades, tens of thousands of Americans EVERY YEAR will be alive, saved by our efforts to address the dangers associated with tobacco.

Public health works. Research and education and product improvement and smart regulations save lives.

There is absolutely no reason why the same principles cannot be applied  with guns.  To me, this isn’t about gun control. It’s about GUN SAFETY.  It’s about research and education that helps us understand how we can make guns safer. It’s about product improvement that can reduce accidental deaths by gun. It’s about smart regulations that reduce the likelihood that a gun is available to someone likely to use it to harm themselves or others.

For too many years we’ve been barred from even doing research. We’ve refused to talk about education on gun safety. We’ve made it impossible to have manufacturers take responsibility for making their product safer and accountability when they fail to do so. And we’ve abandoned the idea that smart regulation can improve safety, reduce harm, save lives and still preserve our freedoms. More than 30,000 Americans die every year from an incident involving firearms. I hope that’s about to change. I hope our HHD students are part of that change.