Education

Two Dozen-Plus School Shootings Seen Since Newtown, Say Gun-Control Groups

By Evie Blad — February 13, 2014 2 min read
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There have been at least 28 shootings at K-12 schools and at least 16 shootings at colleges and universities in the 14 months since the Dec. 14, 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., two-gun control advocacy groups said this week.

“Incidents were classified as school shootings when a firearm was discharged inside a school building or on school or campus grounds, as documented in publicly reported news accounts. Incidents in which guns were brought into schools but not fired, or were fired off school grounds after having been possessed in schools, were not included,” said an analysis completed by Mayors Against Illegal Guns and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.

The groups counted seven suicides and four non-injury shootings in their overall analysis, which documented 28 deaths and 37 nonfatal gunshot injuries resulting from the incidents.

“Of the K-12 school shootings in which the shooter’s age was known, 70 percent (20 of 28 incidents) were perpetrated by minors. Among those shootings where it was possible to determine the source of the firearm, three-quarters of the shooters obtained their guns from home,” a release from the groups said.

Federal data shows the results of the analysis don’t differ greatly from school violence trends in recent years.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s School-Associated Violent Death Study counted 33 school-associated violent deaths in 2009-2010, the most recent year with official data available. That count includes homicides and suicides “on school property, on the way to/from school, or during or on the way to/from a school-sponsored event. Only violent deaths associated with U.S. elementary and secondary schools, both public and private, are included.”

Here’s a look at trends from recent years.

While the figures in the groups’ analysis are in keeping with recent trends, the report is still getting plenty of attention from national media and opinion columnists.

We wrote last year of the flurry of federal and state-level school safety proposals following the Connecticut shooting. I’ve seen plenty of coverage that indicates state lawmakers plan to continue those efforts in 2014. Most recently, the Wyoming House advanced a bill that would allow school staff to carry concealed weapons on campus upon approval from their local school board.

Photo: Students comfort each other at Arapahoe High School in Centennial, Colo., on Friday, where a student shot at least one other student at the school before he apparently killed himself, authorities said. -Ed Andrieski/AP

A version of this news article first appeared in the Rules for Engagement blog.