With the two-year anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting four days away, Everytown for Gun Safety and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America released a report and video today documenting nearly 100 school shootings since Newtown.
The report says Georgia -- with 12 school shootings since the murder of 26 children and staff at Sandy Hook on Dec. 14, 2012 -- leads the nation.
Everytown for Gun Safety is a violence prevention organization with more than 2.5 million supporters and more than 40,000 donors. Since forming in response to the Sandy Hook tragedy, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense has established a chapter in every state and, along with Mayors Against Illegal Guns, is part of Everytown for Gun Safety.
Here is the release on their report:
Since the tragedy on December 14, 2012, Everytown has kept a list of school shootings in America – any time a firearm is discharged inside a school building or on school or campus grounds, as documented in publicly reported news accounts.
As of today, there have been at least 95 school shootings in 33 states around the country, including fatal and nonfatal assaults, suicides, and unintentional shootings – an average of nearly one a week. The list includes all school shootings – some media outlets exclude events that do not resemble the Newtown tragedy, removing instances that include gang violence, unintentional shootings and suicides.
The report reveals that Georgia has had 12 school shootings since Newtown – the highest number of school shootings in any state in the country.
“School shootings – no matter the circumstances – corrode the sense of security we should expect from our educational institutions in this country. Two years ago, the NRA called for arming teachers – that’s their solution – more guns for everyone, everywhere, anytime,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety. “The gun lobby wants schools and college students to join the country’s arms race and buy more guns. Instead, we can and should do more to prevent gun violence – that’s why we’re fighting for common-sense public safety measures that respect the Second Amendment and keep guns out of the wrong hands.”
"When I drop my son off at school, I don’t expect him to be in danger of being shot,” said Wendy Wittmayer, volunteer with the Georgia chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. “But two years after Newtown, my child is clearly unsafe in Georgia schools. The powerful gun lobby must be stopped to prevent more tragedies, and to make Georgia safer.”
“The inconceivably tragic mass shooting at Sandy Hook woke up millions of Americans to our country's pervasive culture of gun violence. We do not send our children to school to learn how to hide from gunmen, nor should we expect sharpshooting to be a job requirement for educators. For far too long, our lawmakers have asked children and teachers to stand up to gunmen because they are too afraid to stand up to the gun lobby,” said Shannon Watts, Founder of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.
“You may not have heard about all of these shooting incidents on the national news, but when a lockdown is announced over a school intercom – for whatever reason – it strikes fear across the community. We will not allow the constant threat of gun violence at our schools to become the new normal – it’s time our elected leaders take a stand for the safety and future of our children,” said Watts
The analysis of school shootings since Newtown revealed several trends including minors obtaining guns from home and the escalation of violence when a gun is present in a situation:
•Of the K-12 school shootings in which the shooter’s age was known, 70 percent (28 of 40 incidents) were perpetrated by minors. Among these K-12 school shootings where it was possible to determine the source of the firearm, nearly two-thirds of the shooters (10 of 16) obtained their guns from home.
•In 35 shootings— more than a third of all incidents — at least one person was shot after an argument or confrontation escalated and a gun was on hand.
Other key findings include:
•The 95 school shootings occurred in 33 states across the country. Fifty-two percent of the shootings took place at K-12 schools and 48 percent took place on college or university campuses.
•12 of the 95 shootings occurred in Georgia – the most of any state in the study.
•These school shootings resulted in 45 deaths and 78 non-fatal gunshot injuries. In 32 percent of these incidents at least one person died.
• In 65 incidents (68 percent), the perpetrator(s) intentionally injured or killed another person with a gun; of these, 23 incidents resulted in at least one homicide. In 16 incidents, the shooter attempted or completed suicide — in six incidents after shooting someone else. Six shootings were purely accidental in nature. In 14 other incidents, a gun was discharged but no one was injured.
• Over the last two years an average of two school shootings took place at K-12 schools each month.
• During the last three months alone, there were 17 school shootings including a single week in which there were five incidents in five separate states.
The new analysis and video were released today at a press conference on Capitol Hill. Elected leaders, gun violence survivors and gun safety advocates were in attendance.
"Across the country, people are honoring the 26 beautiful children and educators whom we will never forget by performing acts of kindness in their own communities,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal. “But the best way to honor their memory is through action to end gun violence. The most effective memorial is to make our nation safer and better by making our laws more effective to end gun violence and keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people.
"Our community was forever changed by the events of December 14, 2012," said Ashley Cech, the daughter of Sandy Hook Librarian Yvonne Cech. "We owe it to our nation’s students to find ways to make educational institutions safe places. Keeping guns from people who should not have them to begin with."
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