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.

  • IzzyScissor@kbin.social
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    11 months ago

    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

    • kandoh@reddthat.com
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      11 months ago

      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

      • Dagwood222@lemm.ee
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        11 months ago

        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

    • corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca
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      11 months ago

      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.

    • Arcka@midwest.social
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      11 months ago

      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.

      • PoliticalAgitator@lemm.ee
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        11 months ago

        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.