Most school shootings aren’t mass killings, study finds, and they’re often driven by community violence
Most school shootings aren’t mass killings, study finds, and they’re often driven by community violence
Many Americans think of school shootings as mass casualty events involving an adolescent with an assault-style weapon. But a new study says that most recent school shootings orchestrated by teenagers do not fit that image — and they are often related to community violence.
Many Americans think of school shootings as mass casualty events involving an adolescent with an assault-style weapon. But a new study says that most recent school shootings orchestrated by teenagers do not fit that image — and they are often related to community violence.
The study, published Monday in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, analyzed 253 school shootings carried out by 262 adolescents in the US between 1990 and 2016.
It found that these adolescents were responsible for only a handful of mass casualty shootings, defined as those involving four or more gunshot fatalities. About half of the shootings analyzed — 119 — involved at least one death. Among the events, seven killed four or more people.
A majority of the shootings analyzed also involved handguns rather than assault rifles or shotguns, and they were often the result of “interpersonal disputes,” according to the researchers from University of South Carolina and University of Florida.
Jesus Fucking Christ, pick a side, article:
Average age of shooter was 16
"It’s not really about gun ownership"
More than half of the shooters got the firearm they used from a family member or a relative. About 30% got a weapon from the illegal market, while 22% obtained weapons from friends or acquaintances.So 70% got it through someone who legally owned the gun already, and 30% bought it illegally. A 16 year old cannot purchase a gun legally.
SURE SEEMS LIKE PEOPLE OWNING A GUN IS A FACTOR, THEN, HUH
If you expect me to secure my guns properly, then that makes it more difficult for me to imagine the totally bitchin' scenario where dozens of armed criminals break into my house and have need to immediately defend my family like John Wick
People are downvoting you, because you called their logical and well thought out plans a fantasy. You are a big meanie to dash their dreams like that.
/s for sarcasm
Even John Wick buried his weapons under concrete in his basement, he could kill you with a pencil though.
SURE SEEMS LIKE PEOPLE OWNING A GUN IS A FACTOR, THEN, HUH
We can wait until you figure out the connection as mentioned in your own comment, but we can only wait so long.
got the firearm they used from a family member or a relative
and
obtained weapons from friends or acquaintances
does not imply those people legally owned the gun already.
I would expect that households who raise children to think violence is acceptable are more likely to disregard the laws.
The "illegal market" you left out implies they were legally owned to me.
Ultimately, it doesn't matter, because it all flows from legal sales anyway. There is no magic gun fairy arming criminals by manifesting firearms out of thin air, only legal gun owners who refuse to responsibly secure their firearms.
Is "community violence" the politically correct terminology for blaming gangs?
Probably. I've been saying it for a while now, the root cause of gun violence in the US is socioeconomic inequality and lack of mental healthcare.
Then how have other wealthy countries avoided gun violence despite similar inequality and lack of affordable mental health services?
But arguing "cause vs symptom" is a waste of time anyway. Americas gun laws are demonstrably unsuitable for the state of American society today.
Gun laws that didn't put profits and reactionary votes first would massively reduce the damage done by criminals, abusers and terrorists while people spent 50 more years arguing over the problem being Marilyn Manson, violent videogames or not having access to some magical mental healthcare system that can cure "I want to kill people", even in people who don't seek help.
And gang culture. You can grow up in a poorer white/asian area and have less gun related violence than in poor hispanic/black areas. I would link a source but im lazy rn
The fact that there is enough statistics for this study to happen is fucked up.
Jeez, imagine having that much data between 1990 and 2016.
So, I read the CNN article and the CNN-linked journal paper it was based on and I don't understand how the CNN aithor, Amanda Musa, was able to read the journal article and jump to her conclusions except through overwhelming prejudice and bias. Holy cow, this is irresponsible reporting. From the journal article itself, here is a relevantbsummary:
Overall, these findings stress the critical public health message concerning the secure storage of firearms, especially in households with adolescents. Our study suggests that initiatives limiting adolescent access to firearms, such as child access prevention laws or efforts to decrease illegal gun trafficking, might effectively prevent school shooting incidents.23,24 Furthermore, hospital-based initiatives centered on screening for firearm accessibility and exposure for inpatients could be fruitful in preventing gun violence, both inside and outside schools.25
Also the demographic statistics in the journal article are information but not informative. They're not meant by the journal article's authors to support the gross conclusion Musa extrapolated from it.
I've been saying this for years now, and everyone just wants to say "GUNS BAD BAN GUNS".
Fix the root issues, and you solve the problem. If you don't address root problems, then you only change the way that the problem manifests. You could remove guns, and then you'd see a rash of stabbings, with calls for parents to lock their kitchen knives in safes, and bans on knives with blades over 2".
Are you saying there are no poor or crazy people in places like England? Because there are plenty of them, they just don't have guns.
I am not. In fact, England (and Australia) both have an overall rate of violent crime--murder, battery, robbery, forcible rape--that's quite comparable to the US. If you remove murder from the equation entirely, then England and Australia appear to have more violent crime than the US. Their crime is less lethal, but they're have more of it. Despite the fact that, e.g. England bans carrying pocket knives for fear of knife crime. But both countries have very similar problems to the US, although Australia seems to have a mostly functional NHS, despite the constant attempts to cut funding. (England's NHS is far, far less functional now than it was.)
If England and Australia were to adjust their system of governance and taxation to address the underlying issues, then it's likely that they'd have far less violent crime.
Even giving you a free pass on "they'll just do stabbings instead" (despite that not being true anywhere else in the world), that would still be a massive improvement over giving them semi-automatic weapons.
Stabbings are easier to flee, easier to disarm, slower and less lethal. If dogshit gun laws were scrapped after Columbine, easily half as many people would have been killed by domestic terrorists.
So you want to ban checks notes 'interpersonal disputes' ?
No, I want to change community circumstances so that interpersonal disputes don't lead to violence.
In most cases, people that aren't living in pretty desperate circumstances aren't turning to lethal violence as the first, best option for solving problems. People that feel like they have options don't immediately jump there.
Well if this isn't some pro gun anti black propaganda I don't know what is.
So if it's not a mass shooting, we should be fine with it, that's the angle?
An example from the article:
Sathya, who was not involved in the new study, says it is important to highlight the difference between a mass shooting at a school and a school shooting brought on by community violence because the perpetrators often look different and are committing these acts of violence for different reasons. Therefore, the respective solutions look very different, as well.
So, yes, apparently. Fuck guns.
How did you get that? Did we read the same article?
We should be angry about the media narrative pushed by some that banning guns that look scary and limiting magazine sizes will do anything.
This shows that teaching non-violent conflict resolution, and getting the larger community to buy in would eliminate almost all shootings. Students need better interpersonal skills, and they need role models to show what those skills look like.
Are you being ignorant on purpose, or is this just an accident?