A gun is discharged in a US school about once a week: advocacy group analysis
The gun violence at a California elementary school last week is hardly uncommon in the U.S., which has seen an estimated 220 shootings -- including suicides and accidents -- in schools and colleges since the start of 2013, according to Everytown for Gun Safety, a nonprofit that advocates for gun control and against gun violence.
The advocacy organization began tracking shootings in schools, including colleges and universities, after the December 2012 massacre at a Newtown, Connecticut, elementary school that killed 26.
The group's analysis doesn't go back far enough to include the deadliest school shooting in history, which occurred 10 years ago today, on April 16, 2007, when Virginia Tech student Seung-Hui Cho killed 32 students and faculty.
But Everytown's figures, unlike some other tallies of gun violence, include shootings even if they are accidental or don't result in any injuries or fatalities.
The list tracks “any time a firearm discharges a live round inside a school building or on a school campus or grounds,” which could include suicides, accidental discharges, and criminal activity, such as gunfire related to an armed robbery, according to the website of Everytown, which is backed by billionaire and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
This broad definition of school shootings has led to some criticism from gun rights advocates who argue that the Everytown's statistics present gun violence in schools as more common than it is.
But Everytown says on its website that its definition of school firearms incidents is “straightforward, fair, and comprehensive." It covers "any time a firearm discharges a live round inside a school building or on a school campus or grounds, as documented by the press and, when necessary, confirmed through further inquiries with law enforcement of school officials."
Politifact analyzed Everytown's figures in 2014 in response to the criticism and found that the group is open about its methodology and its broad definition of shootings in schools.
Politifact's conclusion? By grouping mass shootings in schools with suicides or accidental A gun is discharged in a US school about once a week: advocacy group analysis - ABC News:
