Thread by @theviolencepro

1/Our new @washingtonpost @PostOpinions op-ed with @david_riedman of @K12ssdb examines “back to school” shooting trends since 2017. The findings are concerning. A 🧵

washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…

2/School shootings more than doubled this September compared to the same month in previous years

As we saw with the shooting in Arlington, TX, yesterday, the current #school shootings are an extension of the everyday #gunviolence that is devastating communities across America

3/There were 55 school shootings in September this year! These were not the attacks that schools rehearse for with “active shooter drills.” 11 were at or around high school football games

4/Many were fights that escalated out of control—because far too many people are carrying guns in public and on campus

5/A handgun was the weapon of choice in 88 percent of this September’s school shootings

Children cannot legally own guns, so they are either getting illegal guns off the streets or legal weapons from family and friends who fail to secure them safely

6/This is unsurprising given an overall rise in gun-carrying in public. Americans purchased a record number of guns last year and many states have made it easier to legally obtain and carry guns

7/This increasingly violent environment poses a threat to children across the country. More guns do not make schools safer — if they did America’s would be the safest in the world (spoiler - they’re not)

Instead, guns make simple disputes deadly

8/All school shootings are preventable—but most are different from the premeditated attacks that most people think of when they hear the term “school shooting” -END-