J.D. Vance: School Shootings a "Fact of Life," Tells Americans to "Deal With It"

Days after the first major school shooting of the 2024-25 school year, J.D. Vance, the Republican Party's vice presidential candidate, suggested that strengthening security at schools would stop gun violence in them, and rejected gun reform as a means to lower the frequency of such shootings. (Of note: the latest school shooting, where four individuals were killed in Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, had security in the form of a school resource officer who was able to minimize the violence, but importantly, their presence did not deter the shooting, either. In other shootings where SROs were present, they weren't as effective as this latest instance.) Said Vance, per USA Today:

"If these psychos are gonna go after our kids, we've got to be prepared for it. We don't have to like the reality that we live in, but it is the reality we live in, and we've got to deal with it," Vance said.

Tim Walz, the Democratic Party's vice presidential nominee, decried Vance's comments as "pathetic." "We can’t quit on our kids — they deserve better," Walz said.

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