Fragments of broken clay pigeons lay scattered among the golden grass. The echoing booms of shotguns firing echo in the distance. At a range in Coyote Valley, just 40 minutes from Palo Alto, senior Anton Tompert can spend an afternoon practicing his shooting at various stations set up around the property.

“It’s fun because it’s kind of like golf,” Tompert said. “There’s different ways they let out the clay pigeons, and then you drive around in a golf cart to go to different sites.” 

Tompert said it can be difficult to have pro-gun beliefs in the liberal atmosphere of Palo Alto. Tompert said that he believes that the  nation is too politically divided for any productive discussions concerning gun culture to occur. 

“I’ve had conversations with people that are strongly against (gun ownership), and it never really results in an actual discussion,” Tompert said. “It’s always just like: you think it’s OK for kids to be murdered? And it’s like, that’s not what I’m saying. That’s not what I believe.”

While guns have always been a severely controversial topic, debates surrounding gun control have once again been thrust into the national spotlight after two monumental judicial cases: the Kyle Rittenhouse trial and the Supreme Court’s impending decision on a New York concealed carry law. 

In the controversial trial, a jury acquitted Rittenhouse of all criminal charges after he fatally shot two Black Lives Matter protesters amid the chaos of the protests in Kenosha, Wisc. in 2020. 

In the shadow of the Rittenhouse trial, the sound of gunfire can conjure up a different scene. Sophomore Anna Van Riesen said her first encounter with guns was five years ago in San Francisco.

Van Riesen was helping her cousins in San Francisco move into a new house when she suddenly heard shots coming from down the street.

“I thought it was fireworks at first, so I put my head against the car window,” Van Riesen said. “And then my dad was like, ‘No, get down, get down!’ My brother has special needs so we just lied on the floor of the car and hoped that nothing bad would happen.”

While Van Riesen and her family were able to make it out safe, she said that this experience gave her a new perspective on the threat of guns.

“I’ve always heard names like Columbine and Parkland in the news, but hearing people yelling and screaming made me realize that it’s not just numbers,” Van Riesen said. “It became real.”

Van Riesen said that she was upset by the verdict of the Rittenhouse trial.

“It made me sad, but what I came to realize after my emotions died down was that these people are still dead,” Van Riesen said. “If a minor with an automatic gun can cross state lines and kill two people, there’s something wrong with the system.” 

Tompert said the Rittenhouse trial was a good example of why he thinks open carry is a bad idea as it increases the potential of people getting hurt. 

“Open carry just makes the situation so much more tense,” Tompert said. “It really does nothing to ease tensions.” 

And if the Supreme Court rules against a New York law that limits citizens from carrying concealed guns in public, it may invalidate California’s laws against concealed carry, potentially allowing more Californians to carry firearms outside of their homes.

The presence of guns in American society can come as a surprise for international students such as junior Alex Gao who moved to the United States from Shanghai in sixth grade. 

“We never have any guns in China, so we never really get to experience it,” Gao said. “Once you come here it’s like: Hey, people can own actual firearms outside of the police and army officers. That was a shock.”

Gao said he sees no need for people to carry firearms in public. 

“In their house, sure. But in public spaces, no,” Gao said. “I think Americans are fixed on the idea that if you’re holding a gun, you’re holding on to power. I don’t think we need to make the issue worse.”

And if the Supreme Court rules against a New York law that limits citizens from carrying concealed guns in public, it may invalidate California’s laws against concealed carry, potentially allowing more Californians to carry firearms outside of their homes.

Gao said he sees no need for people to carry firearms in public. 

“In their house, sure. But in public spaces, no,” Gao said. “I think Americans are fixed on the idea that if you’re holding a gun, you’re holding on to power. I don’t think we need to make the issue worse.”

And Van Riesen said she sees no need for an increased presence of guns in public, given the fear surrounding them. 

“We’re a generation of kids walking around Paly with signs on doors that tell you what to do in an active-shooter situation — it’s burned in our psyches,” Van Riesen said. “There’s no reason for guns to be more prevalent in a culture where we’re already constantly afraid of them.”

Van Riesen said she is both angry and disappointed in both political parties regarding the lack of productive reforms for gun control.

“I don’t think they necessarily value keeping people safe,” Van Riesen said. “The main value is getting people riled up so that they vote for you in the next election, and that feels fake to me.”

With the recent school shooting in Oxford, MI, which left three students dead and eight others injured, Reisen said the threat of a potential school shooting at Paly always stays in the back of her head. 

“My friends and I were talking about it during lunch, and we all agreed that we wouldn’t go to the field,” Van Riesen said. “We know what we’d do: we’d run. It’s insane that we even have to think about this.”