07/09/2026
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ l The Horrors Young Hands Can Hold
The question is not only why a child pulled the trigger, but why the child could reach it.
Today, students now fear that one among them carries a weapon that should have never been within a young personโs reach. The sound of gunshot is heard. โWho pulled the trigger?โ becomes the immediate question. But the more uncomfortable question is: who made the fi***rm accessible in the first place? While underaged perpetrators must be held liable for violence, preventing youth gun assaults also demands accountability from the adults and systems that allow fi***rms to fall into young hands.
Responsibility does not end with the shooter. The Republic Act No. 10591 or the Comprehensive Am******on Act is the Philippine law that regulates ownership, possession, and carrying of guns and am******on. If a gun is legally owned and is supposedly regulated, then how did it end up in a childโs hand? The answer lies on the irresponsible adult that left it unsecured on a shelf. The law places an obligation on fi***rm owners to exercise proper care, but its existence means little if unsecured fi***rms can still be accessed by minors. Curbing youth gun violence demands not only responsibility from the young perpetrator but also responsible ownership and proper safekeeping by adults who have access to these weapons.
And if the law already recognizes regulation and judicial custody, then failure to prevent unauthorised access is not merely the fault of a child, but an institutional one. Though laws exist, efforts ultimately fall flat when implementation is simply too late. Several establishments are tasked with fi***rm regulations, while some have the authority to implement community safety measures and strengthen policies. Yet, regulation can feel reactive rather than protective. A system that waits for an unauthorized shooting before demanding accountability has already missed the most important opportunity: preventing the weapon from being accessed in the first place. When those in power only respond after open fire, they are addressing the aftermath rather than the conditions that made it possible. The juvenile pulled the trigger, but systems built to prevent that very moment must also answer for why it happened.
The consequences of youth gun violence do not end when the weapon is taken away. Survivors may carry both physical and emotional wounds while classmates can return to school carrying a fear that no tape can erase. Schools lose the sense of security that allows students to learn without constantly anticipating danger. Worse, repeated exposure to violence risks turning the extraordinary into the ordinary. It teaches a generation to regard fear and fi***rms as unavoidable parts of school life. Laws should not only tell people what to do after violence occurs, they should make it harder for that violence to occur in the first place. When the next generation becomes accustomed to living with danger, society has failed not only to protect their present, but also to protect the future they are supposed to inherit.
Though some may argue that the perpetrator chose to execute the crime. Others will also point out that blaming the institutions may risk excusing the very individuals committing the crime. However, accountability should not be a choice whether to blame the child or the system, as both can be held for different lapses. The perpetrator must answer for the violence committed, while the system must answer for the safeguards that broke down before it could be stopped. If the same mistakes in weapon regulation, enforcement, and school safety repeats after one student is punished, then society has not prevented the next shooting. It is merely waiting for it.
Picture a mother sending her child to school with a packed lunch, a clean uniform, and a future waiting for them. No parent should have to wonder whether their child will return home because a fi***rm was left unsecured. Young hands should be holding pencils, notebooks, and graduation certificatesโnot instruments of despair capable of ending a life. That means fi***rm owners must secure their weapons, schools must strengthen their safety measures, and authorities must enforce the laws meant to keep fi***rms out of unauthorized hands. Anything less is not prevention, it is an invitation for another bloodshed.
We cannot keep asking who pulled the trigger while ignoring administrative shortcomings. Secure the weapons. Strengthen the safeguards. Enforce the law. Demand accountability. Never let the next gunshot be the warning that finally makes us act.
The horrors young hands can hold are truly terrifying. But until we learn from our mistakes, we may soon find ourselves fearing a future where chaos is no longer an exception, but something always within reach.
article by ๐๐๐ซ๐ซ๐๐ง ๐๐ซ๐ฒ๐ฅ ๐๐๐ง๐๐ซ | The Tradesman contributor
illustration by ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐ฌ ๐๐ฅ๐ฎ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐๐๐๐ ๐ | The Tradesman
