After the Parkland massacre, she organized the National School Walkout. Then she departed from America.

Lane Murdock, a 21-year-old from Connecticut, sometimes finds herself instinctively searching for emergency exits even though she currently lives and studies in a country where mass shootings are uncommon.

More than five years after leading a national student walkout in the wake of the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Murdock occasionally looks for open windows and other potential escape routes on her Scottish university campus.

She reflects on the situation in her native country, where the toll of gun violence remains a daily concern. In the United States, nearly 1,500 children and teenagers have fallen victim to gunfire so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

Murdock acknowledges the devastating toll of gun violence in the United States and sometimes feels guilty for having the opportunity to leave. However, she wakes up each morning feeling grateful for her current situation.

To date, there have been over 590 mass shootings in the US this year, resulting in more than 600 fatalities and 2,500 injuries, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive. This figure includes at least 69 school shootings in 2023 as of October 28. In these school shootings, at least 33 people have lost their lives, and more than 77 have been injured, based on CNN’s analysis of data reported by the Gun Violence Archive, Education Week, and Everytown for Gun Safety.

It is worth noting that firearms have now become the leading cause of death among children and teenagers in the United States, surpassing motor vehicle accidents, which held that distinction until 2020.

In a phone interview from Edinburgh, Murdock, 21, said of her high school advocacy against gun violence, “It makes me call into question the work I did.”

“We have a problem with culture in America. This concerns the core essence of American identity. Regrettably, having a gun is also associated with that identity and gun violence.

‘Shared trauma’ over mass shootings

On Valentine’s Day of 2018, Murdock was a sophomore in high school in Ridgefield, Connecticut, when a young man opened fire at Majory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, murdering three teachers and fourteen classmates.

She devised a plan for April 20, 2018, the anniversary of the 1999 Columbine High School massacre, to see students stage a walkout in protest.

Much beyond Ridgefield, which is less than 30 minutes from Sandy Hook, where 20 primary school pupils and six staff members were shot dead in 2012, was where Murdock’s Change.org petition for the walkout was seen.

The 16-year-old Murdock told CNN at the time, “That America’s children are growing up in fear is something we’re not talking about.” “Learning how to hide from a shooter should not be required of a child.”

According to organizers, high school students in the US island territory of Guam and American students attending Oxford and Cambridge universities in England joined more than 2,500 schools from New England to Hawaii in the walkout.

The student walkout led by Lane Murdock coincided with the growing movement led by survivors of the Parkland massacre, who organized a massive March For Our Lives event in Washington, DC, to demand gun reform.

The impact of the broader movement was evident in the passing of legislation across the United States. A late 2018 report by the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence revealed that 67 new gun laws were enacted by both Republican and Democratic legislators in 26 states and Washington, DC.

Despite these efforts, another tragic incident occurred on May 24, 2022, serving as a grim reminder of America’s continued struggle to protect its children from gun violence. Nineteen fourth graders and two teachers were fatally shot inside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

Lane Murdock emphasized the shared trauma that Americans have experienced due to these mass shootings, which is difficult for the rest of the world to comprehend.

She’s living in a ‘whole other world’

Murdock came to Scotland in August 2020 to attend Edinburgh Napier University to study public relations. Since then, she has slightly thickened her Scottish accent. She lives in an apartment with four roommates and works in a tavern.

Regarding life in the US, she remarked, “I was really burned out.” “After the incredible, challenging learning experience that was the walkout, I was ready for a change. There were a lot of reasons why I was prepared to leave America. Education costs a lot. Medical care is costly. It is a hazardous location.

In Scotland, Lane Murdock noted that young people rarely consider gun violence as a significant concern.

Recent Scottish government statistics show that there were 52 homicides recorded in Scotland in 2022-23. The weapon of choice for criminals in Scotland, a nation with a population of 5.4 million, is knives. Sharp instruments accounted for 58% of homicides in 2022-23, resulting in 30 victims. Only three homicides involved firearms, according to government statistics.

Scottish authorities report a significant decline in homicides among 16- to 24-year-olds over the past two decades. Between 2003-04 and 2007-08, there were 126 victims in that age group, whereas in the last five years, there were 24.

The Dunblane school shooting tragedy in 1996, where 16 5- and 6-year-olds, along with their teacher, lost their lives, remains one of the most horrific incidents of gun-related violence in the United Kingdom. In response to public outrage, the government took action the following year by implementing a ban on private ownership of all handguns on the British mainland.

Lane Murdock emphasized the stark contrast between the United Kingdom and the United States regarding gun violence and legislation. She described the UK as a “whole other world” where laws were put in place after the Dunblane tragedy, significantly changing the lives of young people. Her peers in the UK do not experience the same anxiety and fears related to gun violence that she grew up with.

In the UK, more powerful guns had already been banned following the Hungerford massacre in 1987, in which a gunman armed with a pistol, hand grenade, and automatic rifle killed 16 people before taking his own life.

Since the tightened gun laws, there have been two mass shootings in the UK: one in 2010 where a lone gunman killed 12 people in rural Cumbria, northern England, and another in 2021 where five people were killed by a gunman in Plymouth, southwest England.

Murdock expressed frustration that the United States has not implemented similar swift and comprehensive legislative reforms, leading her to remain in the UK for the time being. She hopes to engage in advocacy work on issues like gun violence, healthcare, or women’s rights after completing her education. She lamented the fact that the US has witnessed the loss of young lives due to inaction on this critical issue.