School and public shootings have been an increasing epidemic in the United States over the last 20 years. We used discourse analysis to provide insights into the conversations, attitudes, and perceptions of public shootings through the analysis of news coverage, magazines, and social media. We found themes associated with growing public despair around governmental lack of response and inevitability of gun violence everywhere, racial and gender disparities of gun violence, and the widespread impact of trauma to gun violence. The results of this discourse analysis indicate how problematic discourse still perpetuates gun violence and trauma in the United States. Implications are also included regarding the importance of mental health advocacy and action-oriented approaches in disrupting ongoing gun violence.
Keywords
discourse analysis, school shootings, public shootings
Author Bio(s)
Rizal Kurniawan Universitas Negeri Padang, Indonesia Correspondence should be Nicolette Tran has a bachelor's degree from Florida Gulf Coast University in Criminal Justice with a minor in Psychology. She is now back at Florida Gulf Coast University in her final semester of graduate school studying Clinical Mental Health Counseling and graduating in May, 2025. Right now, her interests are in trauma and grief counseling, and she is open-minded regarding additional specialties. This is her first Discourse Analysis and it does include her story. Please direct correspondence to nrtran4139@eagle.fgcu.edu
Frank Gorritz FitzSimons, Ph.D., LPC, LMHC, NCC, ACS, QS is an Adjunct Professor of Professional Counseling at Lindsey Wilson University and a licensed professional counselor. Dr. Gorritz FitzSimons is a nationally recognized scholar and counselor educator on topics including providing affirmative counseling care to queer and transgender communities of color, providing multicultural supervision, utilizing diverse approaches to counseling work, as well as addressing and disrupting white supremacy in counselor education. His ongoing research interests include enhancing an understanding of minority stress, improving social justice competencies, and promoting affirming approaches to substance use counseling practice. Dr. Gorritz FitzSimons has received numerous awards on a national level for his dedication to social justice across communities in both counseling and advocacy work, including the Counselors for Social Justice 'Ohana Award and SAIGE's Making It Happen Award. Please direct correspondence to fgorritz89@gmail.com
Tran, N., & Gorritz, F. (2026). History repeats itself – A discourse analysis exploring the voices of school shooting survivors, public perception, and governmental response for the sake of a shooting-free. The Qualitative Report, 31(7), 6350-6370.
