Comparative Review on School Shootings in the United States Since Columbine

• Journal List
• Disaster Health
• v.1(2); April-December 2013
• PMC5314897

Disaster Health. 2013 April-Dec; 1(2): 84–101.

Fatal school shootings and the epidemiological context of firearm bloodshed in the U.s.

James K Shultz

^oneHeart for Disaster & Farthermost Event Preparedness (DEEP Middle); University of Miami Miller School of Medicine; Miami, FL USA

Alyssa M Cohen

²Cooper City, FL U.s.

Glenn W Muschert

³Department of Sociology and Gerontology; Miami University; Oxford, OH Us

Roberto Flores de Apodaca

⁴Psychology Department; Concordia University–Irvine; Irvine, CA USA

Received 2013 Aug 8; Revised 2013 Oct 21; Accepted 2013 Oct 21.

Abstruse

Background

The December 14, 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary Schoolhouse in Newtown, Connecticut, USA, vaulted concerns regarding gun violence to the forefront of public attention. This high-visibility incident occurred within the epidemiological context of U.S. firearm bloodshed that claims more than 88 lives daily.

Methods

National epidemiologic data on firearm deaths over two decades were analyzed forth with data registries on school shootings in lodge to identify the tragedy at Sandy Hook in perspective. School shootings were classified every bit random or targeted.

Results

The U.Southward. has the highest rates of firearm deaths, suicides, and homicides among the globe'south 34 "advanced economies." Seventy percent of U.South. homicides and more than than 50% of U.S. suicides are committed using a firearm. U.Southward. firearm homicide rates first declined, and then stabilized, during the past 23 years, 1990-2012. "Shooting massacres" in school settings, a new phenomenon within the past 50 years, are extremely rare events. Over 23 years, 1990-2012, 215 fatal school shooting incidents resulted in 363 deaths, equivalent to 0.12% of national firearm homicides during that time period. Almost episodes were "targeted" shootings in which the perpetrator intentionally killed a specific individual in a school setting. Just 25 of these 215 events (11.6%) were "random" or "rampage" shootings, resulting in 135 deaths (0.04% of national firearm homicides). Amongst these, only three shooting rampages – Columbine Loftier School, Virginia Tech University, and Sandy claw Unproblematic School – accounted for 72 (53.3%) of these 135 deaths. The frequency of random/rampage shooting incidents in schools has remained inside the narrow range of 0 to 3 episodes per yr.

Conclusions

Each year, more than 32,000 Americans die past firearms and more than than lxx,000 are wounded, representing a book of preventable deaths and injuries that the U.Southward. government describes every bit a "public health crisis." Schoolhouse massacres, such equally Sandy Hook, occur periodically, galvanizing public reaction and bringing forth a commonage call for intervention. Epidemiological analyses position these rare, but uniquely compelling, incidents within the broader national patterns of gun violence. The intention is to inform the selection of a balanced, comprehensive set of constructive remedies to accost the daily death toll from firearm suicides and "targeted" firearm homicides that business relationship for more 99% of firearm fatalities; likewise as the rare, random, and sporadic rampage shootings in school or community settings.

Keywords: schoolhouse shootings, rampage shootings, shooting massacres, mass shootings, gun violence, firearm homicides

Introduction

On December xiv, 2012, Sandy Hook Elementary School (456 students in grades kindergarten-4^th grade), Newtown, Connecticut, was the scene of a shooting massacre.¹ In less than 12 minutes, armed with a Bushmaster XM15-E2S burglarize, the twenty-year-old perpetrator, Adam Peter Lanza, blasted his way into the locked school building and killed 20 first-grade students and six developed staff, firing off 50 to 100 rounds with his semi-automatic weapon. Most victims died from multiple gunshot wounds inflicted at close range using frangible ammunition that fragments upon impact. As constabulary entered the schoolhouse responding to the incident, Mr. Lanza killed himself with a handgun. Had officers non arrived on the scene swiftly, Mr. Lanza had sufficient ammunition in large-capacity magazines to expeditiously kill dozens or hundreds more students and teachers. Given the documented motivation of some shooters to attempt to exceed previous body counts,² Mr. Lanza may have aspired to out-kill Norwegian gunman Anders Breivik who stalked, shot, and killed dozens of unarmed youth and young adults at the Norwegian Labour Party's summer camp on Utøya Island in July 2011.^{iii , four}

The Sandy Hook Elementary Schoolhouse Shooting was a galvanizing — and polarizing —3 result, bringing along strident calls for gun command and mental health reform.⁵ President Barack Obama became personally involved, making repeated visits to Newtown, empaneling a special investigative committee, spearheading progress toward implementation of 23 gun violence reduction executive actions,⁶ packing the chambers of Congress with survivors of gun violence equally he delivered his 2013 State of the Spousal relationship address,⁷ and actively involving family members of the Sandy Claw victims as advocates for legislation to address this national problem.⁸ However, the forceful political rhetoric and extensive media coverage of the upshot of mass violence has yet to issue in policy or behavioral change.^{5 , 9 , 10}

Nosotros have written separately⁵ virtually the "tipping point" nature of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting and the psychological and social media ramifications.¹¹ In the present article, we examine schoolhouse-based shooting massacres from an epidemiological vantage, exploring the national context of firearm mortality. The purpose is to simultaneously demonstrate both the importance, and the exceptional nature, of schoolhouse-based shooting massacres.

National patterns of firearm violence and mass shooting events

Gun violence riddles U.Due south. inner cities and rural areas.¹² In 2011, the almost recent year for which U.S. national mortality data are available, 32,163 persons were killed past firearms, equivalent to 88 deaths per day.¹³ The annual firearm homicide decease toll, at more than than 11,000 deaths in 2011, is equivalent to 30 homicides-by-gun per day, a sobering effigy that reproduces the Sandy Claw Elementary School body count each day, every solar day, year-circular.¹³

Amongst the 34 nations characterized as "advanced economies,"^fourteen the U.South. rates for total firearm deaths (10.iii/100,000 in 2011), firearm suicides (6.xxx/100,000 in 2011), and firearm homicides (three.60/100,000 in 2011), are unmatched.^{fifteen - 17} In fact, each of these rates is multiple times higher than for any other developed nation.

Firearm mortality in the U.S. represents a compelling public wellness problem.¹⁸ Whatsoever comprehensive, population-based approach for reducing the incidence of firearm violence must begin by defining the intricate epidemiologic patterning of firearm-related injury and mortality, including both suicide and homicide by firearms and adventitious gun deaths.^{6 , 19}

Shooting massacres in school and community settings

Northward and King (2009) examined trends in shooting massacres.²⁰ According to these authors, the frequency of mass shooting events, occurring in school and community settings, has increased with accelerating pace since 1966, starting time with the Austin Belfry shootings on the University of Texas campus. Among the superlative 12 deadliest shootings in history,²¹ four were school shootings, including the top two deadliest mass shooting events, Virginia Tech University in 2007 (32 firearm homicides and the shooter, Mr. Cho, committed suicide)^{22 , 23} and Sandy Claw Uncomplicated Schoolhouse in 2012 (26 firearm homicides at the school post-obit the killing of the shooter's mother at her home - and the shooter, Mr. Lanza, committed suicide).ⁱ Analyses presented hither will examine whether the upwards tendency noted past North and Rex continues well-nigh one-half century afterwards the seminal incident in Austin, Texas.

Specific to schoolhouse shootings, Muschert²⁴ has devised a five-betoken typology that includes 1) rampage shootings, two) school invasion mass murders, 3) terrorist attacks on a school or schoolhouse children, 4) school-related targeted shootings, and v) government shootings taking identify at schools (eastward.thou. Ohio National Guard shooting of Kent State students, May 4, 1970). Fortunately, in the U.Southward. there have been no episodes of terrorist attacks in schools, although the horrific spectacle of the Beslan School earnest crisis in 2004 compels all nations to be vigilant.^{25 - 29} In that upshot, Chechen and Ingush separatist militants laid siege to Beslan Schoolhouse Number One, in North Ossetia, an democratic republic in the Russia, holding 1,100 hostages. When Russian security forces entered the building on the third day, 386 persons were killed (334 were hostages, including 156 children) from a combination of improvised explosives, rockets, arms, and pocket-size weapons fire.

The shooting massacres at Sandy Claw Elementary School,^{ane , 9} Virginia Tech University,^{22 , 23} and Columbine High School^{2 , xxx - 35} are the 3 highest-fatality examples of "binge shootings," every bit described past Newman et al.³⁶ in their book, Rampage: The Social Roots of Schoolhouse Shootings, in this style: "An institutional attack takes place on a public phase earlier an audition, is committed by a fellow member or quondam member of the institution, and involves multiple victims, some chosen for their symbolic significance or at random. This final condition signifies that it is the organization, not the individuals, who are of import." Really, the episode at Sandy Hook Unproblematic School represents the cusp betwixt rampage shootings (Mr. Lanza was a erstwhile student, ostensibly an "insider") and a school-related mass murder (at historic period 20, Mr. Lanza had graduated from Sandy Hook more than a decade earlier and was, in a sense, an "outsider").²⁴ Analyses reported here will classify school shootings into the categories of random/rampage (a combination of rampage and school-based mass murder categories in the Muschert typology²⁴), targeted, and other, in keeping with previous studies from another of our authors (RF).³⁷

To place school-based shooting incidents in public health context, a "top-down" sequence of analyses is presented: i) international information and rankings of firearm deaths, homicides, and suicides for the earth'southward 34 "advanced economies;" ii) numbers and time trends in U.S. firearm deaths, homicides, and suicides; 3) 12 deadliest mass shootings and 12 deadliest school shootings in U.Due south. history; iv) annual schoolhouse shooting incidents and fatalities; 5) single- vs. multiple-victim school shootings; half dozen) numbers and trends in schoolhouse shootings categorized into random/rampage, targeted, or other shooting incidents; and 7) analyses of distinctions betwixt random and targeted shootings in terms of type of school, urban – rural continuum, and perpetrator characteristics. Starting broadly past examining global patterns of firearm deaths, the focus is successively narrowed to U.S. firearm mortality in recent decades, then to firearm homicides, school-based fatal shooting incidents, and finally, to random and targeted subcategories of schoolhouse shootings.

Methods

A top-downwards examination of U.Due south. firearm deaths was performed in the seven-step sequence described below.

1) International rankings of firearm fatalities

Rates of total U.S. firearm deaths, firearm homicides, and firearm suicides per 100,000 citizens, and gun ownership per 100 citizens, were compared to rates among the remainder of the 34 nations with "avant-garde economies" as identified by the International Budgetary Fund (IMF).^{xiv - 16} The original source for charge per unit and rankings data was a series of country-level reports compiled by the Academy of Sydney School of Public Wellness.¹⁵ Rate and rank data were organized for the 34 nations, grouped by continent or region, and listed alphabetically within regional groups (Table 1).

Table 1.

Firearm death rates among developed nations representing the 34 "advanced economies".

Nations with avant-garde economies		Firearm homicides (per 100,000)		Firearm suicides (per 100,000)		Full firearm deaths (per 100,000)		Firearm possession (per 100 persons)
		Rate	Rank	Rate	Rank	Charge per unit	Rank	Charge per unit	Rank
Americas
	United States	3.lx	one	6.30	1	10.30	1	101.1	i
	Canada	0.50	7	ane.79	8	2.38	9	23.8	11

Asia
	Hong Kong	<0.01	32	0.03	34	0.03	34	NA	NA
	Japan	<0.01	32	0.04	32	0.06	32	0.six	32
	Korea, Southward	<0.01	32	0.04	32	0.06	32	1.1	31
	Singapore	0.02	31	0.12	thirty	0.16	31	0.five	33
	Taiwan Province	0.60	iii	0.12	30	0.87	27	four.4	29

Europe
	Austria	0.18	23	two.68	4	2.94	5	30.4	8
	Belgium	0.29	15	1.96	seven	2.42	8	17.2	14
	Republic of cyprus	0.24	18	0.48	26	0.96	26	36.4	four
	Czech Republic	0.12	27	1.39	12	1.76	15	sixteen.three	15
	Denmark	0.30	13	ane.sixteen	15	1.45	20	12.0	xix
	Estonia	0.30	13	ane.57	11	2.54	vi	9.2	23
	Finland	0.26	16	3.34	2	iii.64	3	45.seven	ii
	France	0.22	xix	2.33	6	three.01	4	31.2	7
	Germany	0.20	20	0.94	xx	1.24	23	30.3	ix
	Hellenic republic	0.59	5	0.97	nineteen	1.64	17	22.5	13
	Iceland	0.32	12	i.25	xiii	1.57	18	xxx.3	9
	Ireland	0.36	x	0.56	25	1.03	25	five.6	28
	Italy	0.36	10	0.81	22	1.28	22	xi.9	20
	Grand duchy of luxembourg	0.60	3	1.00	18	two.02	11	15.three	sixteen
	Republic of malta	0.48	8	1.68	10	two.16	ten	11.9	20
	Netherlands	0.20	twenty	0.24	28	0.46	29	3.9	30
	Norway	0.04	29	i.72	9	1.78	13	31.three	six
	Portugal	0.48	8	i.09	17	1.77	14	8.five	24
	Slovak Commonwealth	0.18	23	0.94	20	1.75	16	8.three	25
	Slovenia	0.05	28	2.34	5	ii.49	7	13.5	xviii
	Spain	0.15	25	0.42	27	0.62	28	x.four	22
	Sweden	0.19	22	i.xx	14	1.47	19	31.6	5
	Switzerland	0.52	6	3.15	3	three.84	ii	45.7	2
	United Kingdom	0.04	29	0.18	29	0.25	30	half-dozen.7	27

Eye East
	Israel	0.94	2	0.71	24	1.87	12	7.three	26

Oceania
	Australia	0.13	26	0.73	23	1.06	24	15.0	17
	New Zealand	0.26	16	1.xiv	16	1.45	20	22.half-dozen	12

ii) U.Southward. national firearm bloodshed data

Firearm mortality data for the 22 years, 1990-2011, were obtained from a series of annual National Vital Statistics Reports adult by the National Eye for Health Statistics (NCHS).^{13 , 38 - 50} "Terminal" decease information were bachelor for all years, 1990-2010,^{38 - l} and "preliminary" expiry data were available for 2011.¹³ NCHS does not yet have mortality information compiled for 2012, the twelvemonth of the Sandy Claw Elementary School shooting. NCHS data categorizes firearm deaths into firearm suicides, firearm homicides, accidental discharge of a firearm, deaths from firearms occurring during "legal intervention," and a pocket-sized balance category described equally firearm "deaths of undetermined intent." Data from these vital statistics reports were compiled past year into tabular format with separate columns for total firearm deaths, firearm homicides, firearm suicides, and "other" firearm deaths [calculated as (total deaths) – (homicides) – (suicides)] (Table 2). Each of the annual vital statistics reports provided population (denominator) estimates from the U.S. census used in the computation of firearm death rates per 100,000 U.S. citizens. From these reports, annual rates for total firearm deaths, firearm homicides, firearm suicides, and other firearm deaths were obtained and presented graphically to display time trends (Fig. 1).

Table 2.

Annual firearm mortality by type of death, 1990-2011.

Twelvemonth	Annual firearm bloodshed by year 1990-2011
	Firearm homicides	Firearm suicides	Other firearm deaths	Total firearm deaths
1990	xvi,218	18,885	2,052	37,155
1991	17,746	xviii,526	ii,045	38,317
1992	17,488	18,169	2,119	37,776
1993	18,253	eighteen,940	2,402	39,595
1994	17,527	18,765	2,213	38,505
1995	xv,551	eighteen,503	1,903	35,957
1996	14,037	18,166	1,837	34,040
1997	13,252	17,566	1,618	32,436
1998	xi,798	17,424	1,486	xxx,708
1999	10,828	16,599	ane,447	28,874
2000	10,801	sixteen,586	1,276	28,663
2001	eleven,348	16,869	1,356	29,573
2002	eleven,829	17,108	1,305	30,242
2003	11,920	16,907	one,309	30,136
2004	11,624	16,750	1,195	29,569
2005	12,352	17,002	1,340	xxx,694
2006	12,791	16,883	1,222	thirty,896
2007	12,632	17,352	1,240	31,224
2008	12,179	18,223	1,191	31,593
2009	11,493	xviii,735	one,119	31,347
2010	11,078	19,392	one,202	31,672
2011	xi,101	19,766	1,296	32,163
Total	293,846	393,116	34,173	721,135

Figure 1. U.s. almanac firearm mortality rates per 100,000 population, 1990-2011.

3) U.S. mass shooting events

The scholarly literature on mass shooting events was explored,^{2 , 36 , 51} and lists of the deadliest mass shootings and school shootings were examined.^{21 , 52 , 53} The 12 deadliest U.S. mass shootings and 12 deadliest U.Southward. school shootings were tabulated in order by numbers of deaths and described in terms of event, date, urban center, state, setting, and numbers of persons killed and injured (Tables 3 and ​ 4).^{21 , 52 , 53} The top 4 deadliest schoolhouse shootings too appeared amidst the 12 deadliest mass shootings. These loftier-fatality mass shooting events were portrayed graphically on a timeline, separating school shootings (appearing in a higher place the timeline) from not-school "community" shootings (appearing below the timeline) (Fig. ii). For the purposes of this epidemiological assay, Tables 3 and ​ 4 provide tallies of the deaths amongst shooting victims but exclude deaths of shooters. Ane of our authors (GWM) has carefully examined the result of including versus excluding shooters and has published on this theme from a sociological vantage.^{54 , 55}

Table iii.

12 deadliest mass shooting events in the United States.

Rank	Event	City/State	Setting	Date	Killed	Injured
1	Virginia Tech Academy	Blacksburg VA	School: University	4/sixteen/2007	32	17
ii	Sandy Hook Unproblematic School	Newtown CT	School: Elementary	12/14/2012	27	two
three	Luby'due south Cafeteria	Killeen TX	Restaurant	8/16/1991	23	20
4	McDonald's Restaurant Shooting	San Ysidro CA	Eatery	vii/eighteen/1984	21	19
5	University of Texas	Austin TX	School: University	8/ane/1966	17	31
six	Postal service Role Shooting	Edmond OK	Post Office	eight/20/1986	14	half dozen
vii-x	Columbine High School	Littleton CO	Schoolhouse: Secondary	four/xx/1999	13	21
seven-x	Immigration Services Middle	Binghampton NY	Authorities Function	four/iii/2009	13	4
7-10	Fort Hood Shooting	Fort Hood TX	Military Base of operations	11/5/2009	13	32
7-x	Camden Shooting	Camden NJ	Downtown Camden	nine/6/1949	thirteen	3
11	Aurora Movie theater	Aurora CO	Movie house	7/20/2012	12	58
12	Geneva County Shooting	Geneva County AL	Alabama Towns	3/10/2009	ten	vi
Totals					208	219

Table 4.

12 deadliest school shooting events in the United States.

Rank	Event	City/State	Setting	Date	Killed	Injured
ane	Virginia Tech University	Blacksburg VA	Schoolhouse: University	4/xvi/2007	32 27 students, five professors	17 + 9 17 students shot, vi students injured while escaping, 3 students injured: other causes
ii	Sandy Hook Uncomplicated School	Newtown CT	School: Elementary	12/xiv/2012	26 + one twenty students, two teachers, 2 teacher's aides, principal, school psychologist + shooter's mother (at home)	2 2 teachers
3	Academy of Texas Tower Shooting	Austin TX	School: University	viii/i/1966	15 + 2 one school employee, ane professor, ane police officer, 4 students, one unborn baby, 1 academy visitor, six town residents, + shooter's mother and wife (off-campus)	31 Variety of pedestrians shot by sniper burn down
4	Columbine High School	Littleton CO	School: Secondary	4/xx/1999	13 12 students, 1 teacher	21 + 3 21 students shot, 3 injured while escaping
v	Ruby Lake Senior High	Ruddy Lake MN	School: Secondary	3/v/2005	vii + 2 5 students, 1 instructor, 1 security guard, + shooter's granddaddy & grandpa's girlfriend (off-site)	7 7 students shot
6/7	Oikos University Shooting	Oakland CA	School: University	4/2/2012	7 6 students, one employee	three iii people shot
6/7	California State at Fullerton	Fullerton CA	School: University	seven/12/1976	seven 1 professor, vi school employees	two 2 co-workers
8-12	Cleveland Schoolhouse Massacre	Stockton CA	Schoolhouse: Simple	1/17/1989	5 5 students	thirty 29 students, 1 instructor
8-12	Northern Illinois University	Dekalb IL	School: University	two/14/2008	5 5 students	17 + 4 17 students shot, iii students injured while escaping, 1 student injured: other causes
8-12	Westside Middle School Shooting	Jonesboro AR	School: Secondary	5/25/1998	5 4 students, 1 teacher	10 9 students, i instructor
eight-12	Amish School Shooting	Nickel Pines PA	School: Elementary	10/two/2006	5 five female students	5 5 female students
8-12	University of Iowa Shooting	Iowa City IA	School: University	1/1/1991	five 1 student, 3 professors, 1 administrator	ane 1 student
Totals					132 + five	146 + 16

Figure ii. Timeline of deadliest mass shootings in school and community settings, United States.

4) School shooting incidents and fatalities

School shootings were tallied and categorized (Table 5) for the flow 1990 through 2012, by reviewing several corroborating sources. Mortality from schoolhouse shootings was examined in relation to total firearm deaths, suicides, and homicides (Table vi, Fig. three).

Table 5.

Number of school shooting incidents and deaths by type of shooting, 1990-2012.

Year	Number of school shooting incidents by type and year, 1990-2012				Number of school shooting deaths past shooting type and Year, 1990-2012
	Random/rampage shootings	Targeted shootings	Other	Full	Random/rampage shootings	Targeted shootings	Other	Total
1990	0	1	0	one	0	1	0	ane
1991	0	two	one	3	0	vi	ane	7
1992	1	6	i	eight	two	nine	1	12
1993	1	24	10	35	1	25	11	37
1994	0	9	x	19	0	9	10	19
1995	2	8	1	eleven	4	9	i	14
1996	3	10	two	15	3	16	two	21
1997	ii	7	0	9	6	eight	0	xiv
1998	ane	ix	ane	xi	five	14	1	20
1999	one	1	one	3	xiii	1	1	15
2000	one	7	2	10	ii	8	2	12
2001	one	2	ii	v	2	2	2	half-dozen
2002	0	four	0	iv	0	viii	0	8
2003	1	5	6	12	1	6	vi	13
2004	0	iv	2	6	0	iv	2	half-dozen
2005	1	iii	0	4	9	three	0	12
2006	3	vi	0	9	ix	8	0	17
2007	2	v	1	8	36	7	one	44
2008	2	6	1	ix	seven	7	ane	xv
2009	0	9	4	thirteen	0	x	4	14
2010	0	half dozen	2	8	0	8	two	10
2011	1	5	1	7	one	v	1	7
2012	ii	3	0	5	34	v	0	39
Total	25	142	48	215	135	179	49	363

Tabular array 6.

Distribution of United States firearm deaths, 1990-2011.

Total Firearm Deaths	721,135	Distribution of 721,135 Firearm Deaths
Firearm Suicides		393,116 (54.5%)
Firearm Deaths: Accidental/Other		34,173 (04.seven%)
Firearm Homicides		293,846 (xl.eight%)	Distribution of 293,846 Firearm Homicides
Firearm Homicides in Non-School Settings			293,522 (99.89%)
Schoolhouse Shooting Deaths			324 (00.xi%)	Distribution of 324 School Shooting Deaths
Targeted School Shooting Deaths				174 (53.seven%)
Other/Unclassified School Shooting Deaths				49 (xv.1%)
Random/Rampage School Shooting Deaths				101 (31.2%)

Figure 3. Firearm deaths in United States, 1990–2011.

Primary sources

Appendix L of the Virginia Tech Review Console details fatal school shootings of 1966 – 2007, giving the engagement, location, and a brief description of the incident.⁵⁶ Slate Magazine has compiled a listing of fatal school shootings from 1980 to 2012, providing the date, location, number killed, and a timeline graphic of these incidents.⁵⁷ The National Schoolhouse Safety Center published a report on all school associated deaths, including suicides, homicides, and adventitious deaths from 1992 to 2010, giving the date, school name, location, victims' names, method of killing (e.grand. shooting, stabbing, etc.), reason for killing (due east.1000. gang-related, suicide, accident, etc.), number of victims, and a clarification of the incident.⁵⁸ The Brady Campaign to Forestall Gun Violence also produced a list of schoolhouse shooting events for the menses, 1997 through 2012, giving the date, location, and a cursory clarification of each outcome.⁵⁹

School shooting incidents for the catamenia 1990 through 2012 were included in the nowadays assay if they were listed in rosters of school shootings provided by either the Virginia Tech Review Console Appendix L⁵⁶ or the Slate Magazine analysis.⁵⁷

The National School Safety Middle'due south list⁵⁸ was detailed and more expansive, listing many incidents that were suicides or homicides only indirectly related to the schoolhouse. Thus, but incidents meeting specific criteria, were selected from this listing for inclusion in the nowadays study. To be included in the roster of school shootings, an incident from the National School Safety Center'southward list needed to bespeak the method of decease as shooting (deaths from stab/slashing, hanging, jumping, and unknown methods were excluded). Firearm deaths in school settings that were categorized every bit suicide or legal intervention were excluded, just the remaining categories (interpersonal dispute, gang-related, robbery, accidental, and unknown) were included. To be included in the analysis, location had to be listed every bit: on campus, playground, hallway, school parking lot, bus/double-decker finish, athletic field/gym, or school classroom/office. The only location descriptor that was excluded was "near school." Fatal school firearm incidents from the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence list⁵⁹ were used if the incident could exist corroborated with a published news article.

During 21 years, 1990-2010, for which estimates of student enrollment (elementary, heart schoolhouse, high school, and college/university) were available to apply every bit denominator data,^{60 , 61} it was possible to summate school shooting death rates.

5) Single vs. multiple victim school shootings

In parallel with previous reviews of schoolhouse shootings,⁶² the roster of selected/included episodes was classified in terms of single victim vs. multiple victim incidents and presented as a graph (Fig. 4).

Effigy 4. United states of america school shootings: Unmarried victim vs. multiple victim shooting incidents, 1990-2012.

six) Numbers and trends in fatal school shootings categorized into random/rampage, targeted, or other shooting incident

Details on each of the enumerated fatal schoolhouse shooting events were compared amid the 4 chief sources^{56 - 59} and supplemented with news articles gathered past searching the name of the school, the year of the shooting, and the word "shooting" to classify each incident as random, targeted or other (Tables five and ​ 6, Figs. three, ​ 5, ​ half-dozen and ​ 7). A shooting was classified equally a "random/rampage" incident if information technology involved ane) a perpetrator, 2) the intention to commit homicide, 3) no specific person identified equally the targeted victim, and 4) i or more than victim fatalities. This category subsumes both rampage shootings and school invasion mass murders from the Muschert typology.²⁴ Ii shootings were classified as random even though some of the victims were targeted because the office of the incident that occurred on a school campus was random, even though targeted victims (family members in both instances) were killed off campus. A "targeted" incident was one that involved 1) a perpetrator, 2) the intention to shoot someone, 3) a specific targeted person, and 4) decease or injury of the targeted person. Gang violence that involved the expiry of the intended target as the victim was classified equally targeted. Incidents were classified every bit targeted when others, in addition to the targeted individual, were killed. Shootings committed during robbery were likewise classified as targeted, even if in that location was no pre-meditated intention to kill the victim. Shooting incidents were classified as "other" if they were accidental, missed the intended target, involved the shooting expiry of bystanders (merely not the intended target) during gang violence, occurred equally an act of self-defense force, or when it was impossible to determine whether the incident was random or targeted.

Figure 5. Random/rampage, targeted, and other school shooting incidents by year, United states of america, 1990-2012.

Figure 6. Number of deaths in random/rampage school shootings past incident and year, Us, 1990-2012.

Figure 7. Geographic distribution of schoolhouse shootings displaying urban/rural continuum, United states of america, 1990-2012. Random/rampage school shootings (upper map). Targeted schoolhouse shootings (lower map).

7) Comparison of targeted versus random schoolhouse shootings

Using geo-coded data for the site of the school shootings, 2 maps were developed to brandish and dissimilarity the number and geographic distribution of the random/rampage and targeted shootings (Fig. seven). By using different colors/shapes for the location markers, the shooting incidents were simultaneously portrayed along a four-category, urban–rural continuum consisting of urban/inner metropolis, suburban, town, and rural locales (Fig. vii).

Data analyses contrasted random, targeted, and other schoolhouse shootings in terms of type of school (elementary schoolhouse, heart school, high school, college/academy) (Table 7), urban-rural continuum (urban/inner metropolis, suburban, town, rural) (Tabular array eight), and perpetrator characteristics (Table 9). Perpetrator information was gathered when bachelor, linked to the year of incident, school proper noun, and school location (city and land). Information from the four primary sources^{56 - 59} that provided lists of school shootings was compiled on the perpetrator(s) including the perpetrator's age, gender, relation to the school setting where the incident occurred, and whether the perpetrator committed suicide.

Tabular array seven.

Type of school shooting incident in relation to level of educational establishment.

	Type of school shooting incident
Level of educational institution	Random/rampage		Targeted		Other		Full
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
Elementary Schoolhouse	ii	eight.iii%	14	10.iv%	7	14.vi%	23	11.1%
Middle School	1	four.2%	12	8.9%	8	sixteen.6%	21	ten.i%
High Schoolhouse	xiii	54.ii%	82	60.7%	thirty	62.5%	125	60.4%
College/ University	8	33.iii%	27	20.0%	iii	vi.3%	38	18.four%
Total	24	100.0%	135	100.0%	48	100.0%	207	100.0%

Tabular array viii.

Type of school shooting incident in relation to urban/rural continuum.

	Blazon of schoolhouse shooting incident
Urban/rural continuum	Random/rampage		Targeted		Other		Total
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
Urban/ Inner Metropolis	9	36.0%	80	57.ane%	32	66.7%	121	56.eight%
Suburban	10	40.0%	28	20.0%	10	20.8%	48	22.5%
Pocket-size Town	0	0.0%	14	10.0%	2	4.2%	16	7.5%
Rural/ Agricultural	half-dozen	24.0%	18	12.9%	4	viii.3%	28	13.2%
Total	25	100.0%	140	100.0%	48	100.0%	213	100.0%

Table ix.

Perpetrator characteristics by type of school shooting, 1990-2012.

Perpetrator characteristics			Blazon of school shooting incident
			Random/rampage		Targeted		Other		Full
Total perpetrators			27		152		51		230
Mean age			22.6		24.iv		sixteen.ix		23.0
Age grouping			No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
	<xviii years		9	33.3	52	34.2	13	25.5	74	32.two
	18-24 years		11	40.eight	29	19.i	11	21.half-dozen	51	22.2
	25-34 years		2	seven.4	15	nine.9	0	0.0	17	7.4
	>35 years		three	11.1	23	xv.1	0	0.0	26	11.iii
	Missing		2	vii.4	33	21.7	27	52.9	62	26.9
Gender			No.	%	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
	Male		25	92.6	121	79.vi	22	43.ane	168	73.0
	Female		2	7.4	3	two.0	one	ii.0	vi	2.vi
	Missing		0	0.0	28	18.4	28	54.9	56	24.iv
Perpetrator relation to school
	Current Student		xi	40.eight	67	44.1	xvi	31.4	94	40.9
	Former Student		vi	22.two	viii	5.2	0	0.0	14	6.one
	Student from Other Schoolhouse		three	11.1	4	2.six	three	v.ix	ten	4.3
	Employee/Teacher		0	0.0	12	7.nine	0	0.0	12	5.2
	Related to Pupil or School Employee		0	0.0	8	5.iii	0	0.0	8	3.5
	Boy/Girlfriend or Romantic Interest of Student or School Employee or Parent of Student		0	0.0	7	4.6	0	0.0	7	3.0
	Unknown/Other		7	25.9	46	30.3	32	62.7	85	37.0
Perpetrator suicide
	Committed Suicide		10	37.0	22	14.five	i	2.0	33	14.3
	No Suicide		17	63.0	130	85.5	50	98.0	197	85.7

Results

one) International rankings of firearm fatalities

The U.S. ranks first amid the 34 nations with IMF-defined "avant-garde economies"¹⁴ in rates of total firearm deaths, firearm homicides, and firearm suicides (per 100,000 persons) and gun ownership per 100 citizens (Table ane).^{15 - 17} However, it should be noted that about ane dozen developing nations, primarily in Latin America, have college rates of full firearm deaths (Top five: Honduras, El Salvador, Swaziland, Republic of guatemala, Republic of colombia) and firearm homicides (Top 5: Republic of honduras, El Salvador, Jamaica, Swaziland, Guatemala) compared to the U.S.^{15 , 16}

2) U.Southward. national firearm mortality data, 1990-2011

Almanac U.S. firearm deaths for the 22 years, 1990-2011, were categorized into firearm homicides, firearm suicides, other firearm deaths, and total firearm deaths (Tabular array 2). Converted to annual rates per 100,000 U.S. citizens, these data were compiled for each of these categories of firearm deaths and presented graphically to examine trends (Fig. i). The decline in firearm homicides was the major contributor to a corresponding decline in total firearm deaths. In the early 1990s, firearm homicides declined by well-nigh ane-third from effectually 17,000 firearm homicides per year to approximately xi-12,000 per year. In parallel, total firearm deaths dropped from 37-38,000 per yr to 31-32,000 per year, with corresponding rates dropping from the range of 15 firearm deaths per 100,000 citizens to about ten/100,000. Firearm suicide death rates displayed a downwardly tendency during the late 1990s and early 2000s just this was reversed by a notable upturn since 2006, with increasing numbers and rates each year through 2011.

Firearm fatalities in the United States, 2011

In 2011, 32,163 persons died in firearm-related incidents (Table 2).¹³ Firearms were used in 19,766 (51.6%) of 38,285 suicides (episodes of "intentional self-harm") and 11,101 (69.6%) of 15,953 homicides. There were likewise 851 accidental deaths due to belch of a firearm, 222 firearm deaths of undetermined intent, and 223 firearm deaths due to "legal intervention."

20-two years of firearm fatalities in the United States, 1990-2011

During the 22-twelvemonth period, 1990-2011, for which U.S. national mortality figures are available, 721,135 firearm deaths occurred, equivalent to an boilerplate of 32,779 deaths annually. Among these, more than than one-half were firearm suicides (393,116, 54.5%). Ongoing increases in suicides have occurred among the civilian population, specially in the historic period group 35-64 years.^{63 , 64} Rates of suicides in both active-duty war machine personnel and war machine veterans have prompted epidemiologic studies and intervention inquiry.^{65 - 67} In all population subsets, firearms represent the well-nigh common "lethal means" by which individuals commit, and "complete," an human action of suicide.⁶⁶ Although suicide deaths are non the primary focus of this analysis, the fact that firearms are the primary method of inflicting "intentional self-harm" resulting in death adds a relevant dimension to this discussion.

Returning to the 22-twelvemonth period, 1990-2011, 293,846 firearm homicides accounted for 40.8 percent of full firearm deaths. Thus, over more than 2 decades, the average annual number of homicides was 13,356 (almost 37 per twenty-four hours). Fortunately, in contrast to the ascension in suicide rates in contempo years, the rates and the absolute numbers of both total homicides and firearm homicides have significantly declined during this catamenia.⁶⁴ Furthermore, the percentage of homicides committed using firearms has significantly decreased.

3) U.Due south. mass shooting events

The 12 deadliest mass shooting events in U.South. history, through year-end 2012, have all occurred since 1949, claiming a total of 208 lives. Six of these episodes, accounting for 107 deaths, have taken place since 2007. In parallel, the 12 deadliest school massacres in U.S. history have occurred since 1966, claiming a total of 137 lives. Six of these episodes, accounting for 85 deaths, take occurred since 2005. As displayed in Tables 3 and ​ 4, and Effigy 2, there is an overlap; amongst the 12 deadliest mass shooting events, iv take occurred in schoolhouse settings (rank lodge: 1, 2, five, and 7). Not included in this analysis, but displayed in Figure 2, is the deadliest school-based mass murder, the 1927 bombing of a school in Bathroom, Michigan that killed 38 elementary students and half dozen adults. This was non a firearm incident although the bomber used a gun to kill his married woman prior to blowing up the school.⁶⁸

4) School shooting incidents and fatalities: 20-three years of school shootings in the The states, 1990-2012

Perpetrated schoolhouse shootings represent a distinct subset of firearm homicides. Over the 23-year period, 1990-2012, a total of 215 school shooting incidents occurred (9.three per year; range: i-35) resulting in 363 deaths (15.8 per year; range: 1-44) (Tabular array 5). The mean number of fatalities per school shooting across these 215 incidents was one.69 deaths and most schoolhouse shootings resulted in a unmarried decease.

For 1990-2012, among the 215 episodes of fatal school shootings, merely nine resulted in five or more deaths (32, 27, 13, 9, seven, 5, 5, 5 ,five deaths, respectively). These nine are all represented among the 12 deadliest school shootings in U.S. history (Tabular array ii, Fig. 2). The other three schoolhouse shootings with five or more deaths (17, 7, 5 deaths, respectively) occurred prior to 1990. It is instructive, therefore, to annotation the extreme rarity of schoolhouse "shooting massacres" in the context of the large numbers of firearm deaths and homicides.

During 21 years, 1990-2010, for which an judge of pupil enrollment (simple, heart school, loftier school, and college/university) exists, it is possible to summate school shooting death rates. During that period, the number of school shooting deaths per year ranged from 1 (in 1990) to 44 (in 2007) and the full student enrollment for all grades, including institutions of higher instruction, increased every twelvemonth, from 61 one thousand thousand (1990) to 76 one thousand thousand (2010). During this fourth dimension period the school firearm death rate ranged from 0.16 deaths per 10 million students (1990) to half-dozen.1 deaths per x one thousand thousand students (2007).

When examining school shooting deaths in relation to the overarching patterns of firearm deaths, the comparison is restricted to the 22-yr period, 1990-2011, because U.S. national mortality figures are not available for 2012. It is notable that during this 22-twelvemonth interval, the 324 school shooting deaths were equivalent to 0.11% of the 293,846 firearm homicides and 0.04% of the 721,135 full firearm deaths (Table half-dozen, Fig. 3).

5) Single vs. multiple victim schoolhouse shootings, 1990-2012

As a parallel portrayal of the point just made, a spike in single-victim school shootings occurred in 1993 and 1994 but annual numbers of single-victim incidents have remained stable in the 2-to-12 events per year range thereafter. Meanwhile, multiple-victim shooting incidents accept fluctuated betwixt 0 and 4 episodes annually for the entire 23-year time period.

half-dozen) Numbers and trends in school shootings categorized into random/ rampage, targeted, or other shooting incidents

For the 23-year menstruum, 1990-2012, the 215 fatal school shooting incidents, resulting in 363 deaths, were distributed as follows: 25 random/binge shootings (135 deaths), 142 targeted shootings (179 deaths), and 48 other shootings (49 deaths) (Tabular array five). Targeted – and "other" - school shooting incidents and deaths were elevated for several years in the early 1990s and then diminished, remaining relatively stable during the past xv years. The almanac number of random/rampage shooting incidents has varied from 0 to 3 events per yr without alter (Fig. 5).

Random/binge school shootings

For the 23-yr analysis (1990-2012), 25 school-based random shootings occurred, resulting in 135 deaths (mean: 5.xl deaths per incident). The number of random/binge shooting episodes per twelvemonth was distributed as follows: 0 incidents (7 years), one incident (ix years), 2 incidents (five years), and 3 incidents (2 years) (Tabular array 5, Fig. five). Across the 25 incidents, the distribution of random/rampage shooting deaths, in descending club was 32 deaths (1 incident: Virginia Tech University), 27 deaths (1 incident: Sandy Hook Elementary School), 13 deaths (1 incident: Columbine High School), 9 deaths (one incident: Cherry Lake Senior High Schoolhouse), 7 deaths (1 incident: Oikos Academy), 5 deaths (iii incidents: Cleveland Schoolhouse, Northern Illinois University, Amish Schoolhouse), four deaths (i incident), iii deaths (iii incidents), 2 deaths (6 incidents), and 1 decease (7 incidents). As depicted graphically in Figure vi, three of the 25 random shootings –Sandy Hook Elementary Schoolhouse, Columbine High Schoolhouse, and Virginia Tech Academy – deemed for 72 of the 135 deaths (53.three%).

Targeted school shootings

For the 23-year analysis menstruum (1990-2012), 142 school-based targeted shootings occurred, resulting in 179 deaths (mean: 1.26 deaths per incident) (Table 5, Fig. v). Without exception, targeted shootings occurred every year, ranging from i to 24 episodes per yr. No targeted shooting resulted in more than 5 deaths, and most incidents resulted in a single shooting fatality. The distribution of targeted shooting deaths in descending order was: five deaths (2 incidents: Westside Middle School, University of Iowa), 4 deaths (1 incident), 3 deaths (seven incidents), two deaths (12 incidents), and 1 expiry (120 incidents).

7) Comparison of targeted versus random schoolhouse shootings

During the 23-years, 1990-2012, the 25 random/rampage shootings represented 11.6% of the 215 school shootings and deemed for 135 (37.ii%) of the 363 deaths Table 5). The 142 targeted shootings represented 66.one% of school shootings and accounted for 49.3% of school shooting deaths. The 48 "other shootings" contributed the remaining 22.3% of incidents and 13.five% of schoolhouse shooting deaths. For comparison of numbers and distribution of random and targeted school shooting events, the incidents were plotted geographically on two comparison U.S. maps (Fig. seven).

Level of educational establishment

This sub-analysis of 207 school shootings classified the level of the educational institution into four categories: elementary school, eye school, loftier school, and higher/university. Nearly lx% of all school shootings occurred in a high schoolhouse setting (Table seven).

Urban – rural continuum

Schools were classified along an urban-rural gradient as: urban inner city, suburban, small town, or rural. Compared to targeted and other shootings, random shootings tended to occur in either suburban or rural school settings rather than urban inner metropolis locales (Tabular array 8). Figure seven portrays the urban-rural continuum in ii comparison maps of targeted and random shootings.

Rampage shooter characteristics

The 12 deadliest schoolhouse shooting incidents (Tabular array 4, Fig. ii) included x random/rampage shootings and two targeted shootings (Westside Middle School, University of Iowa). Among the xiv perpetrators of the 12 deadliest school shootings (Table 4), including ii shooters each at Columbine High School and Westside Heart School, all were male, ages 11-43 (3 juveniles, 8 in the age range eighteen-28, 3 over 30), 12 were students (eight current and 4 former) at the school where the shooting took place, and nine shooters committed suicide at the scene. In the U.S., rates of firearm homicides are highest in African-Americans (the bulk of both shooters and victims are African-American). Notwithstanding none of these 14 shooters (12 white/non-Hispanic, ane Asian, 1 American Indian) and few of the victims were African-American. Perpetrators of schoolhouse massacres, and their victims, announced to diverge from the prevalent demographic patterns of the remainder of firearm homicides. On some occasions, the perpetrator has demonstrated behavior bug and is not "plumbing equipment in," a trouble that is exacerbated in school systems in close-knit communities.

For 1990-2012, perpetrator characteristics were compared for random/rampage, targeted, and other school shootings (Table nine). Most shooters were male and young (mean age: 23.0 years) and half were electric current or former students in the school where the shooting took place, or in a nearby schoolhouse. Fourteen pct of the 230 perpetrators committed suicide, including 37% of the random/rampage shooters.

Give-and-take

Synopsis of findings

This analytical exploration was set in motion by the tragic and horrific mass shooting at Sandy Hook Simple Schoolhouse that captivated the nation and dominated the media throughout the 2012 yr-end vacation season. We have written a commentary describing the synergistic features of this event that produced a "tipping betoken" miracle, generating a critical mass of focused attention.^five While maintaining concentrated coverage on Sandy Hook, print and broadcast media periodically mentioned that this killing took place against a backdrop of high numbers of gun homicides and suicides that occur continuously and unceasingly every day, ordinarily without receiving notice.⁶⁹ The present analysis was conducted to position the Sandy Hook massacre within the broader epidemiologic context of gun violence in the U.S.

The key findings are: ane) the U.Due south. has the highest rates of firearm deaths among all developed nations; 2) annual firearm mortality exceeds 32,000 deaths, including 11,000 firearm homicides and almost 20,000 firearm suicides; 3) well-nigh firearm homicides – including those that occur in schools - are targeted, single-victim episodes; 4) rampage shooting massacres – whether in customs or schoolhouse settings - are rare and sporadic events; 5) random/rampage school shootings are dissimilar from targeted shootings occurring in school settings in terms of: frequency (fewer), numbers of victims per episode (more than), urban/rural geography (more suburban), and perpetrator characteristics, including perpetrator suicide on-scene; and half dozen) the sum of all deaths from all forms of shootings in a school setting – random/binge, targeted, other – accounts for simply 0.12% (i/800^th) of total firearm homicides and 0.05% (1/2000^thursday) of total firearm deaths in the U.S.

Analysis of firearm bloodshed and a note on firearm injury

At the national level, from a public wellness vantage, firearms represent the lethal means past which more than 32,000 Americans die each year. Firearms are the method used in the committee of 70% of homicides and more than than 50% of suicides. These deaths are homo-generated acts of intentional harm to others (homicide) or intentional cocky-harm (suicide) and thus, these deaths are preventable. This echoes the viewpoint of Dr. Marker Rosenberg who helped found the National Heart for Injury Prevention and Command inside the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) and led the agency's early gun violence research.⁷⁰

Equally preventable is the toll of firearm injuries. According to the Institute of Medicine, "In 2010, more than 105,000 people were injured or killed in the

United States equally the effect of a firearm-related incident."¹⁹ This effigy includes 32,000 firearm deaths and 73,000 non-fatal firearm injuries, representing a ratio of two.3 firearm injuries per firearm death. Moreover, in the twin tallies of the 12 deadliest mass shootings (Table three) and the 12 deadliest school shootings (Tabular array 4), the numbers of firearm injuries exceeded the numbers of firearm deaths.

The present analysis has focused on firearm mortality because national expiry information are available, reliable, complete, carefully verified at state and federal levels, meticulously analyzed past the National Center for Health Statistics, and consistently reported on an almanac basis. Although outside of the telescopic of the electric current study, additional inquiry on firearm injuries is conspicuously warranted, peculiarly because of the high likelihood that such injuries may event in life-irresolute disability, disfigurement, paralysis, or brain damage.

The special case of school shooting massacres

The daily cadence of dozens of firearm suicides and single, targeted homicides that incorporate the major burden of intentional death from firearms in the U.Southward. is periodically punctuated past a multiple-victim shooting massacre. Such mass shootings represent a relatively recent phenomenon in the U.S., dating from the eye of the Twentieth Century. In fact, half of the deadliest community- and school-based mass shootings accept occurred since 2005. Sandy Claw Elementary School, Columbine Loftier School, and Virginia Tech University are the almost notable U.South. examples of a main school, a secondary school, and an institution of higher education impacted by a tragic shooting massacre. These specific events are closely cross-referenced in media accounts.^{71 - 73} Yet, despite the high visibility and notoriety of such acts, we have demonstrated that the numbers of incidents are few and the numbers of deaths represent a minute fraction of total firearm fatalities.

International perspectives on prevention

Considered in international context, the fact that the U.Southward. ranks first in gun ownership per capita; and showtime in rates of total firearm deaths, firearm homicides, firearm suicides; among the 34 nigh "advanced economies"^fourteen is a powerful testament to the potential for prevention. Reinforcing this point of view, a but-published written report examined gun ownership in more than two dozen "developed" countries, including the U.S., and concluded, "The number of guns per capita per land was a strong and contained predictor of firearm-related death in a given country."⁷⁴

The other 33 "avant-garde economies" of the earth provide a cross-cultural spectrum of alternatives for achieving much lower rates of firearm deaths through a variety of strategies. These 33 case examples provide ample illustration that gun deaths, both suicides and homicides, can be limited. Indeed, among economically advanced nations, the U.S. is the odd case, the global outlier.

Strategies to reduce the consequences of gun violence

Our canvassing description of firearm mortality in America strongly supports the need to pattern a comprehensive parcel of solutions to address the complete spectrum of firearm fatalities. Already, steps accept been taken toward these ends since the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

On January 16, 2013, The White House released, "At present is the Fourth dimension: The President'south Plan to Protect Our Children and Our Communities by Reducing Gun Violence."⁷⁵ On that appointment, President Obama introduced and signed 23 gun violence reduction Executive Deportment,^{6 , 76} a broad-ranging set of possible remedies compiled from the testimonies of hundreds of experts who appeared before the Gun Violence Task Force. These 23 Executive Actions were grouped into vii categories. 5 actions aimed at strengthening the existing groundwork check arrangement, six dealt with empowering law enforcement, two focused on making schools safer, and three encouraged responsible gun ownership. The remaining seven actions were clustered in three categories related to public health and health care services: improving admission to mental health care (iv actions), preserving the rights of health providers to protect their patients and communities from gun violence (two actions), and finally, a single Executive Activeness nether the heading of "ending the freeze on gun violence research." This rather provocative phrasing addressed the fact that CDC appropriations for gun violence research were slashed past 96% back in 1996,⁷⁰ purportedly in retaliation for a 1993 CDC study that showed a threefold higher rate of gun homicides in households with firearms.⁷⁷ The Executive Activeness on gun violence is captured in a single sentence, "Issue a Presidential Memorandum directing the Centers for Illness Control to research the causes and prevention of gun violence,"^{six , 77} accompanied by the following background statement:⁶

There are over 30,000 firearm-related homicides and suicides a year. This fact makes it articulate that gun violence is a public health crunch that merits the attention of top public wellness researchers. But for years, Congress has effectively placed a freeze on gun violence research. The Centers for Illness Control and Prevention and other scientific agencies are prohibited from using funds to "advocate or promote gun control," and some members of Congress have claimed this ban extends to any enquiry on the causes of gun violence.

Research on gun violence is not advocacy; it is disquisitional public wellness research. So the President has taken action to immediately restart this important work and is calling on Congress to provide $10 meg to permit the CDC to conduct farther research.

As an immediate offshoot of this Executive Action, the CDC and CDC Foundation asked the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to convene a committee to ascertain a inquiry agenda that examines both the causes of firearm-related violence and possible interventions and strategies to reduce the public health burden. This initiative has already begun to pay dividends with the release of an initial IOM report in June 2013, entitled, "Priorities for Inquiry to Reduce the Threat of Firearm-Related Violence."¹⁹

Currently, with specific reference to the Sandy Hook shooting massacre, researchers in a variety of institutions are analyzing accessible information on gun violence and publishing findings.⁷⁸

Concluding Discussion

Firearm violence is a preventable public health crunch. Public health and mental health can play central roles, infusing science and bringing a population perspective to the search for preventive interventions.

The rare rampage shooting incidents in school settings, like Sandy Hook Uncomplicated, provide impetus and leverage to take activeness and search for solutions.⁵ In the aftermath of this mass shooting, some of the remedies for healing that tin unify and rally the American nation volition focus on ensuring the safety of children from gun violence in schoolhouse settings. This is imperative. Notwithstanding, the nowadays analysis underscores the need to devise a comprehensive gear up of programs and policies that concurrently address the 99.viii% of firearm homicides that occur outside of school settings, and the even larger number of firearm suicides.

Preventive interventions must be devised to mitigate the loss of life to firearm violence across the lifespan. Approaches must identify and address both the common, and the distinguishing, gamble factors for firearm suicides and firearm homicides. Within the category of homicides, strategies must confront the mainstay of targeted, unmarried-victim shootings besides every bit the rare, random, and sporadic binge massacres in school or community settings.

References

2. Larkin RW. . The Columbine legacy: Rampage shootings as political acts. Am Behav Sci 2009; 52:1309 - 26; http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0002764209332548 [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]

5. Shultz JM, Muschert GW, Dingwall A, Cohen AM. . The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting as tipping point: "This time Is different. Disaster Health 2013; [PMC complimentary article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

9. Schildkraut J, Muschert GW. Violent media, guns, and mental illness: The 3 band circus of causal factors for school massacres, as related in media discourse. In: Agger B, Luke T (eds.): Gun Violence and Public Life. St. Paul, MN: Paradigm Publishing, 2013. [Google Scholar]

10. Birkland TA, Lawrence RG. . Media framing and policy change after Columbine. Am Behav Sci 2009; 52:1405 - 25; http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0002764209332555 [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]

12. Norris FH. . Touch of mass shooting on survivors, families, and communities. PTSD Research Quarterly 2007; 18:one - 7 [Google Scholar]

13. Hoyert DL, Xu JQ. Deaths: Preliminary data for 2011. Natl Vital Stat Rep. 2012; 61(6):1-50. Hyattsville, MD: National Centre for Health Statistics. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr61/nvsr61_06.pdf. Accessed 10 October 2013.

14. International Monetary Fund. Earth Economic Outlook: Growth Resuming, Dangers Remain: A Survey by the Staff of the International Monetary Fund. Washington, DC, April, 2012, pages 177-180. ISBN 978-i-61635-246-2. Bachelor at: http://www.international monetary fund.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2012/01/. Accessed 10 Oct 2013.

15. Sydney Schoolhouse of Public Wellness. GunPolicy.org Website: International Firearm Injury Prevention and Policy. University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Bachelor at: http://www.gunpolicy.org/firearm/home. Accessed ten October 2013.

17. Krug EG, Powell KE, Dahlberg LL. . Firearm-related deaths in the United States and 35 other high- and upper-heart-income countries. Int J Epidemiol 1998; 27:214 - 21; http://dx.doi.org/x.1093/ije/27.two.214; PMID: 9602401 [PubMed] [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]

twenty. North CS, King RV. Eyewitness to Mass Murder. In: Neria Y, Galea Due south, Norris FH, eds. Mental Health and Disasters. Cambridge University Press, 2009, pp. 497-507. [Google Scholar]

22. Virginia Tech Review Console. Mass Shootings at Virginia Tech. Study of the Review Panel Presented to Governor Kaine, Commonwealth of Virginia. August, 2007. Available at: http://www.governor.virginia.gov/tempcontent/techpanelreport.cfm. Accessed 10 Oct 2013.

24. Muschert GW. . Research in school shootings. Soc Compass 2007; 1:60 - 80; http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9020.2007.00008.x [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]

26. Tuathail Get. . Placing blame: Making sense of Beslan. Polit Geogr 2009; 28:four - xv; http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2009.01.007 [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]

27. Scrimin Due south, Axia M, Capello F, Moscardino U, Steinberg AM, Pynoos RS. . Posttraumatic reactions amidst injured children and their caregivers 3 months afterward the terrorist assail in Beslan. Psychiatry Res 2006; 141:333 - 6; http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2005.xi.004; PMID: 16515809 [PubMed] [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]

28. Scrimin S, Moscardino U, Capello F, Axia G. . Attending and memory in school-age children surviving the terrorist attack in Beslan, Russian federation. J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol 2009; 38:402 - 14; http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15374410902851689; PMID: 19437300 [PubMed] [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]

29. Vetter Due south, Dulaev I, Mueller One thousand, Henley R, Gallo W, Kanukova Z. . Touch on of resilience enhancing programs on youth surviving the Beslan schoolhouse siege. Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health 2010; 4:1 - 11; http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1753-2000-iv-11; PMID: 20051130 [PMC gratuitous article] [PubMed] [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]

xxx. Larkin R. Comprehending Columbine. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press. 2007. [Google Scholar]

31. Muschert GW, Henry S, Bracy NL, Peguero AA, eds. Responding to School Violence: Confronting the Columbine Effect. Boulder CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, Inc. 2013. [Google Scholar]

32. Muschert GW. . The Columbine victims and the myth of the juvenile superpredator. Youth Violence Juv Justice 2007; five:351 - 66; http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1541204006296173 [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]

33. Muschert GW, Larkin RW. The Columbine High Schoolhouse Shootings. In: South Chermak & FY Bailey (eds): Crimes and Trials of the Century. Westport, CT: Praeger. 2007, pages 253-266. [Google Scholar]

34. Muschert GW, Peguero AA. . The Columbine effect and school anti-violence policy. Research in Social Problems and Public Policy: New Approaches to Social Problems Treatment. 2010; 17:117 - 48; http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/S0196-1152(2010)0000017007 [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]

35. Muschert GW, Ragnedda M. Media and violence control: The framing of school shootings. In: Heitmeyer Due west, Haupt H, Malthaner South, Kirschner A (eds.): The Control of Violence in Modern Order: Multidisciplinary Perspectives from School Shootings to Ethnic Violence. New York, NY: Springer Publishing, 2010. pp 345-361. [Google Scholar]

36. Newman K, Pull a fast one on C, Harding D, Mehta J, Roth Due west. Rampage: The Social Roots of School Shootings. New York: Basic Books. 2004. [Google Scholar]

37. de Apodaca RF, Brighton LM, Perkins AN, Jackson KN, Steege JR. . Characteristics of schools in which fatal shootings occur. Psychol Rep 2012; 110:363 - 77; http://dx.doi.org/ten.2466/13.16.PR0.110.2.363-377; PMID: 22662391 [PubMed] [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]

39. Hoyert DL, Arias East, Smith BL, Murphy SL, Kochanek KD. Deaths: Last Data for 1999. Natl Vital Stat Rep. 2001; 49(8). Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

40. Miniño AM, Arias East, Kochanek KD, Murphy SL, Smith BL. Deaths: Final Information for 2000. Natl Vital Stat Rep. 2002; fifty(15). Hyattsville, Medico: National Center for Health Statistics. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

41. Arias E, Anderson RN, Hsiang-Ching K, Spud SL, Kochanek KD. Deaths: Last data for 2001. Natl Vital Stat Rep. 2003; 52(3). Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Wellness Statistics. [Google Scholar]

42. Kochanek KD, White potato SL, Anderson RN, Scott C. Deaths: Final data for 2002. Natl Vital Stat Rep. 2004; 53(5). Hyattsville, Doctor: National Heart for Health Statistics. [Google Scholar]

43. Hoyert DL, Heron MP, Murphy SL, Kung H. Deaths: Last Data for 2003. Natl Vital Stat Rep. 2006; 54(thirteen). Hyattsville, Medico: National Centre for Health Statistics. [Google Scholar]

44. Miniño AM, Heron MP, Potato SL, Kochankek KD. Deaths: Concluding Data for 2004. Natl Vital Stat Rep. 2007; 55(19). Hyattsville, Doc: National Center for Health Statistics. [Google Scholar]

45. Kung HC, Hoyert DL, Xu JQ, Irish potato SL. Deaths: Final information for 2005. Natl Vital Stat Rep. 2008; 56(x). Hyattsville, Doctor: National Heart for Health Statistics. [Google Scholar]

46. Heron MP, Hoyert DL, Potato SL, Xu JQ, Kochanek KD, Tejada-Vera B. Deaths: Concluding information for 2006. Natl Vital Stat Rep. 2009; 57(fourteen). Hyattsville, MD: National Middle for Wellness Statistics. [Google Scholar]

47. Xu JQ, Kochanek KD, Murphy SL, Tejada-Vera B. Deaths: Last information for 2007. Natl Vital Stat Rep. 2010; 58(19). Hyattsville, MD: National Heart for Health Statistics. [Google Scholar]

48. Miniño AM, Spud SL, Xu JQ, Kochanek KD. Deaths: Last information for 2008. Natl Vital Stat Rep. 2011; 59(ten). Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. [Google Scholar]

49. Kochanek KD, Xu J, Murphy SL, et al. Deaths: Final Information for 2009. Natl Vital Stat Rep. 2012; lx(three). Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Wellness Statistics. [Google Scholar]

50. Murphy SL, Xu JQ, Kochanek KD. Final Data for 2010. Natl Vital Stat Rep. 2013; 61(4). Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. [Google Scholar]

51. Moore MH, Petrie CV, Braga AA, McLaughlin BL. Deadly Lessons: Agreement Lethal School Violence. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. 2003. [Google Scholar]

54. Spencer JW, Muschert GW. . The contested meaning of the crosses at Columbine. Am Behav Sci 2009; 52:1371 - 86; http://dx.doi.org/ten.1177/0002764209332553 [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]

55. Muschert GW, Janssen L. Deciphering binge: Assigning blame to youth offenders in news coverage of school shootings." In: Muschert GW, Sumiala J (eds.). School Shootings: Mediatized Violence in a Global Age. Series on Studies in Media and Communications, Book 7. Bingley, UK: Emerald Grouping Publishing, 2012. [Google Scholar]

60. Institute of Teaching Sciences. National Middle for Didactics Statistics. Search for Schools, Colleges, and Libraries. http://nces.ed.gov/globallocator/. Accessed 10 October 2013.

61. Institute of Education Sciences. National Middle for Education Statistics. Assimilate of Education Statistics. http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/. Accessed 10 October 2013.

62. Anderson Grand, Kaufman J, Simon TR, Barrios L, Paulozzi L, Ryan G, Hammond R, Modzeleski W, Feucht T, Potter Fifty, School-Associated Violent Deaths Report Group. . School-associated violent deaths in the Usa, 1994-1999. JAMA 2001; 286:2695 - 702; http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.286.21.2695; PMID: 11730445 [PubMed] [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]

63. Centers for Disease Command and Prevention (CDC). . Suicide amidst adults aged 35-64 years--United States, 1999-2010. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2013; 62:321 - five; PMID: 23636024 [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

64. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). . Firearm homicides and suicides in major metropolitan areas - United States, 2006-2007 and 2009-2010. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2013; 62:597 - 602; PMID: 23903593 [PMC gratuitous commodity] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

65. Lineberry TW, O'Connor SS. . Suicide in the Usa Army. Mayo Clin Proc 2012; 87:871 - viii; http://dx.doi.org/ten.1016/j.mayocp.2012.07.002; PMID: 22958991 [PMC free article] [PubMed] [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]

66. Anestis Physician, Bryan CJ. . Means and capacity for suicidal beliefs: a comparing of the ratio of suicide attempts and deaths by suicide in the U.s. armed services and full general population. J Bear on Disord 2013; 148:42 - 7; http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2012.11.045; PMID: 23261130 [PubMed] [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]

67. LeardMann CA, Powell TM, Smith TC, Bong MR, Smith B, Boyko EJ, Hooper TI, Gackstetter GD, Ghamsary 1000, Hoge CW. . Take chances factors associated with suicide in current and former US military personnel. JAMA 2013; 310:496 - 506; http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.2013.65164; PMID: 23925620 [PubMed] [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]

71. Muschert GW. . Frame-changing in the media coverage of a school shooting: The rise of Columbine as a national concern. Soc Sci J 2009; 46:164 - 70; http://dx.doi.org/ten.1016/j.soscij.2008.12.014 [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]

72. Muschert GW. School shootings as mediatized violence. In: Böckler N, Seeger T, Sitzer P, Heitmeyer W (eds.): School Shootings: International Inquiry, Case Studies, and Concepts for Prevention. New York, NY: Springer Publishing, 2012. [Google Scholar]

73. Muschert GW, Carr DC. . Media salience and frame changing across events: Coverage of 9 schoolhouse shootings, 1997-2001. Journalism Mass Commun Q 2006; 83:747 - 66; http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/107769900608300402 [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]

74. Bangalore Southward, Messerli FH. . Gun buying and firearm-related deaths. Am J Med 2013; 126:873 - 6; http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.amjmed.2013.04.012; PMID: 24054955 [PubMed] [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]

75. The White House. Now is the Fourth dimension: The President's Programme to Protect Our Children and Our Communities by Reducing Gun Violence. Jan xvi, 2013. Available at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/bug/preventing-gun-violence. Accessed 10 Oct 2013.

77. Kellermann AL, Rivara FP, Rushforth NB, Banton JG, Reay DT, Francisco JT, Locci AB, Prodzinski J, Hackman BB, Somes Grand. . Gun ownership as a chance factor for homicide in the home. Due north Engl J Med 1993; 329:1084 - 91; http://dx.doi.org/10.1056/NEJM199310073291506; PMID: 8371731 [PubMed] [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]

78. Siegel G, Ross CS, King C third. . The relationship between gun ownership and firearm homicide rates in the United states of america, 1981-2010. Am J Public Health 2013; 103:2098 - 105; http://dx.doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2013.301409; PMID: 24028252 [PMC gratis article] [PubMed] [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]

---

Articles from Disaster Health are provided here courtesy of Taylor & Francis

---

vierasenew1948.blogspot.com

Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5314897/

Share this post