To address all incidents of gun violence at schools and their detrimental effects, a broader platform of solutions is required. Gun Homicides, Non-Fatal Assaults, and Mass Shootings The majority of incidents of gun violence in elementary, middle, and high schools—55 percent—are homicides, non-fatal assaults, and mass shootings.
Everytown identified only three mass shootings—incidents where a shooter killed four or more people—in an elementary, middle, or high school between and Far more common were incidents involving specific individuals, arguments that escalated, acts of domestic violence, parking lot altercations, and robberies where the school was an unfortunate backdrop.
While mass shootings in schools are rare, 11 This aligns with research from other organizations that have developed comparable databases of incidents in schools. According to the CHDS database, 10 mass shootings that resulted in the deaths of four or more people not including the shooter occurred on school grounds.
The CHDS database also includes more than 1, other incidents of school gun violence that occurred over the same time period. Center for Homeland Defense and Security. K—12 School Shooting Database.
And the statistics do not begin to capture the collective impact these shootings have on the schools in which they occur, their communities, and all students and parents. Over the last seven years, there were homicides and non-fatal assaults with a firearm, including three mass shootings, that took place on the grounds of elementary, middle, and high schools. These incidents resulted in at least victims: 88 deaths and shot and wounded. Thirty-five percent of those deaths and 15 percent of those shot and wounded occurred during mass shootings.
At least of the victims of gun homicides and non-fatal assaults were students at the time, and 37 percent of those students were shot during mass shootings. Homicide is the second leading cause of death among youths ages 5 to 18, and research from the School-Associated Violent Death Surveillance System found that less than 2 percent of these homicides occur on school grounds, on the way to or from school, or at or on the way to or from a school-sponsored event.
Unintentional Shootings Approximately 21 percent of gunfire incidents that occurred on the grounds of elementary, middle, and high schools were unintentional, including those resulting in gunshot wounds or death and incidents in which no one was shot. These 64 incidents resulted in at least one death and 39 people wounded.
At least 25 of those victims were students at the time. Suicide Deaths and Attempts Ten percent of elementary, middle, and high school gunfire incidents involved suicide deaths and attempts where the shooter had no intention of harming other people. These 31 incidents resulted in 27 deaths and four people wounded. Legal Interventions and Uncategorized Incidents The remaining incidents of gunfire on the grounds of elementary, middle, and high schools—14 percent—were legal interventions or other incidents in which the intention of the shooter falls outside of the categories listed here.
Incidents involving legal intervention are those in which the shooter or potential shooter was shot or shot at by a law enforcement officer. Uncategorized incidents include, but are not limited to, those in which a firearm was discharged into the air, those in which a gun was discharged but harm was caused to others through other means, and those in which a gun was discharged with intent to damage buildings or other property. These 43 incidents resulted in 11 deaths and six people wounded.
Understanding incidents of gun violence in schools is integral to effectively creating a comprehensive plan to address their threat and effects. Everytown for Gun Safety. Overall, 58 percent were associated with the school—they were either current or former students, staff, faculty, or school resource officers. Of the shooters involved in gun homicides and non-fatal assaults, 39 percent were current or former students. Of the three shooters involved in mass shooting incidents, all percent were current or former students.
Of the 62 shooters involved in unintentional discharges, 55 percent were current or former students. Finally, of the 30 shooters involved in self-harm injuries and suicide deaths, 90 percent were current or former students. Everytown limited analysis to incidents that took place in K schools and defined school-aged as under the age of Similarly, an analysis by researchers who received funding from the National Institute of Justice found that in the six mass school shootings Columbine High School, Red Lake Senior High School, West Nickel Mines School, Sandy Hook Elementary School, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, and Santa Fe High School and 39 attempted mass school shootings 20 Defined as incidents where a person came to a school heavily armed and fired indiscriminately at numerous people in the US between April and May , the majority of shooters 70 percent were white males, and nearly all 91 percent were current or former students at the school.
This data suggests that school-based interventions, like threat assessment programs, comprehensive counseling, and student support programs, can be effective tools for addressing school gun violence. And school safety drills with students may be ineffective because the preparedness protocols and procedures are being shared with the very individuals most likely to perpetrate a school shooting. Peterson J.
The Conversation. Evidence suggests that most school shooters obtain their guns from family, relatives, or friends rather than purchasing them legally or illegally. Everytown was able to identify the gun source in 45 percent of the incidents that involved shooters under 18 years old a total of shooters.
Everytown was able to identify the age of of the primary shooters. Of the remaining shooters, either the shooter was not identified in the media or police reports, or demographic information was unavailable. Most of these shooters— 74 percent—obtained the gun s from their home or the homes of relatives or friends.
This finding is consistent with other studies showing that 73 to 80 percent of school shooters under age 18 acquired the gun s they used from their home or the homes of relatives or friends.
The study analyzed 41 incidents of targeted school violence from through finding that of the 25 incidents that involved firearms, 76 percent of shooters acquired the gun s used in the incidents from their home or that of a relative.
This report also included a summary of a previous analysis of 37 incidents of targeted school violence from through June finding that of the 36 incidents that involved firearms, 73 percent of shooters acquired the gun s used in the incidents from their home or that of a relative.
Alathari, L. National Threat Assessment Center. Washington Post. The US Secret Service with partners have undertaken two significant studies of targeted school violence that encompassed incidents from through June in one study and incidents from through in another.
In both periods, approximately three-quarters of school shooters acquired the firearm from the home of a parent or close relative 73 percent in the first study and 76 percent in the second study. This data suggests that secure storage laws and raising awareness about secure storage responsibilities can be effective tools in addressing the source of guns used in school gun violence.
There Are Often Warning Signs Particularly with school violence incidents, there are often warning signs. These warning signs, if appropriately identified, can offer an opportunity for intervention. The Secret Service and the US Department of Education studied all targeted school violence incidents during two different time periods and found overwhelming evidence about warning signs.
From through June , in 93 percent of cases there were behavioral warning signs that caused others to be concerned. A follow-up study on incidents from through found that percent of the perpetrators showed concerning behaviors, and 77 percent of the time at least one person, most often a peer, knew about their plan.
In addition, improvements to school climate that foster trust between students and adults are needed to ensure that students are willing to report warning signs. Gun Violence in American Schools Has a Disproportionate Impact on Students of Color 29 Everytown also analyzed racial disparities in gunfire on college and university campuses and found similar results.
Not only are students of color, especially Black students, disproportionately impacted by gun violence on campus, but Historically Black Colleges and Universities HBCUs experience a particularly high number of incidents compared to other higher education institutions: 31 of the more than HBCUs nationwide experienced incidents of gunfire on school grounds between and and some campuses experienced multiple incidents.
While perpetrators of mass shootings in schools have tended to be white, and the popular narrative around school shootings has focused on predominantly white schools, the larger context of gunfire on school grounds presents a very different picture. Among the shooting incidents at K schools where the racial demographic information of the student body was known, 64 percent occurred in majority-minority schools.
The burden of gun violence has a particularly outsized impact on Black students. Of those, 25 were identified as Black, 57 as white, 23 as Hispanic or Latino, 3 as Asian-Pacific Islander, and 4 as other. The analysis includes in the count of these victims both people shot and wounded and deaths resulting from homicides, non-fatal assaults, unintentional shootings, and suicides and incidents of self-harm where no one else was hurt.
This suggests that creating safe and equitable schools and supporting community-oriented intervention programs in communities with high rates of gun violence can help address these broader trends.
In order to effectively address violence in our schools, it must first be acknowledged that it is, in fact, a gun violence problem. Few have effectively and thoroughly addressed the issue common in all school shootings: easy access to guns by those at risk of committing harm. Everytown, AFT, and NEA firmly believe that any effective school safety plan must involve a proactive effort to enact meaningful gun violence prevention policies that enable intervention before a prospective shooter can get his or her hands on a gun.
These gun violence prevention solutions work hand in hand with school-based intervention policies to create safe climates, provide sufficient counseling and mental health services, and intervene before a student becomes a shooter. As with most active shooter incidents in schools, there were warning signs prior to the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. However, the shooter legally bought the gun he used.
He had never been convicted of a crime, and his mental health history did not legally prohibit him from buying or having guns. These laws create a legal process by which law enforcement, family members, and, in some states, educators can petition a court to prevent a person from having access to firearms when there is evidence that they are at serious risk of harming themselves or others.
Extreme Risk laws are a critical intervention tool that can be used to prevent violent situations. When family, educators, or law enforcement are made aware that a student or another person is a risk to themselves or others, and that the person has access to guns, they can use a court process and ask a judge for a civil restraining order. These extreme risk protection orders, sometimes known as red flag orders or gun violence restraining orders, can be issued only after a specific legal determination is made that a person poses a serious threat to themselves or others.
Once an order is issued, a person is required to relinquish any guns they have and is prohibited from buying new guns. This prohibition is temporary, generally lasting one year. Given that most active shooters show warning signs, Extreme Risk laws are a critical tool for intervening before a violent student acts on their threats.
In cases where a student poses a threat, these orders can be used to prevent a student from buying a firearm even if otherwise they would legally be allowed to do so.
These orders can also be used with minors, who may not be legally allowed to buy or have guns, but may still have access to them at home. Extreme risk protection orders can prevent this access and put family members on notice that they need to store firearms securely. There is strong evidence that these laws can prevent acts of violence before they happen. Wintemute et al. Extreme Risk laws can also be used to help address firearm suicide in schools.
Because Extreme Risk laws are a proven tool, and because they are drafted with strong due process protections, they enjoy strong bipartisan support. In all, 17 states and DC now have Extreme Risk laws on the books. For states that have already enacted Extreme Risk laws, public awareness is a key component for successful implementation. Everytown, AFT, and NEA recommend that these states train law enforcement on the availability and effective use of these laws. States and community members should also initiate public awareness campaigns to make the public aware of the option to get an extreme risk protection order.
School officials also need to know that this is a tool available to them as part of a comprehensive intervention with a student who is at serious risk to themselves or others.
Overall, these laws are a common-sense method for acting on the warning signs commonly found in active shooter incidents, and they can be an effective tool for reducing firearm suicide. In Santa Fe, Texas, on May 18, , a student walked into Santa Fe High School and shot and killed 10 students and staff members and wounded 13 others. He had taken the firearms he used in the shooting from his father, who had failed to store them securely. This is unsurprising, as nearly 5.
In addition, policymakers should promote public awareness programs that can encourage secure storage and induce behavior change. These laws require that people store firearms securely when they are not in their possession in order to prevent unauthorized access. Under these laws, generally, when a person accesses a firearm and does harm with it, the person who failed to securely store the firearm is liable. A common form of secure storage laws, child access prevention laws, are more narrowly tailored, and they hold individuals liable only when minors access firearms that are not securely stored.
Twenty states and DC currently have some form of secure storage law. Code Section Most of those guns were rifles. Such purchases do not prompt reports to the bureau because there is no federal law requiring a seller to alert the bureau when a person buys multiple rifles.
Fifty-eight people were killed when Mr. Paddock fired onto the crowd of more than 22, from his hotel room at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. Authorities retrieved 47 guns from the hotel room and Mr. The bureau found Mr. Paddock purchased most of the guns in Nevada, Utah, California and Texas. Twelve of the rifles recovered from the hotel were each outfitted with a bump stock. The F. Mateen had made comments to co-workers alleging possible terrorist ties, an official said. The next year, the F.
Mateen legally bought two guns , a federal official said. Forty-nine people were killed and 53 more were wounded in the crowded nightclub. Mateen was killed inside the club by the police. The attackers are not known to have had previous contact with law enforcement. Farook bought the two handguns legally in California, federal officials said.
Enrique Marquez, a former neighbor of Mr. Marquez was later charged with lying about the rifle purchases and supplying the assault weapons to the attackers. The couple killed 14 people at a holiday party. Moments before the attack began, Ms. Malik posted an oath of allegiance to the Islamic State on Facebook. Harper-Mercer was in the Army for one month, but was discharged before completing basic training.
In all, Mr. Harper-Mercer owned 14 firearms, all of which were bought legally through a federally licensed firearms dealer , a federal official said. Some were bought by Mr. Harper-Mercer, and some by members of his family.
Flanagan filed a lawsuit against a TV station in Tallahassee, Fla. He was hired at WDBJ in Roanoke, but within months his bosses had documented problems with his harsh language and aggressive behavior. He was later fired and filed another harassment lawsuit. Federal officials said Mr. Flanagan bought the gun legally from a licensed dealer. He had not been convicted of a crime or determined to be mentally ill.
Flanagan killed the reporter and cameraman, injured a woman who was being interviewed and died after shooting himself. Houser was denied a state-issued concealed weapons permit because he was accused of domestic violence and soliciting arson.
Houser bought the weapon in Alabama. To Read the Full Story. Subscribe Sign In. Continue reading your article with a WSJ membership. Resume Subscription We are delighted that you'd like to resume your subscription. Please click confirm to resume now. Show detailed source information? Register for free Already a member? More information. Supplementary notes. Other statistics on the topic. S Profit from additional features with an Employee Account. Please create an employee account to be able to mark statistics as favorites.
Then you can access your favorite statistics via the star in the header. Profit from additional features by authenticating your Admin account. Then you will be able to mark statistics as favourites and use personal statistics alerts.
Please log in to access our additional functions. Yes, let me download! Exclusive Corporate feature. Corporate Account.
0コメント