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.

  • interceder270@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    and they have many of the same problems as the US

    Really? What nations are as polarizing as the US? Seems to me the vast majority of nations that aren’t as violent as the US are not nearly as diverse or suffer from the same extent of wealth inequality.

    Sweden, even with its anti-gun laws, has become the most dangerous scandinavian country by a longshot because they’re now dealing with racial problems the US has had to face for generations.

    • farcaster@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      Plenty of diversity and wealth inequality problems in Europe. Just look up the stats if you’re really interested.

      And these issues are noticeable as you say in Sweden for example. And in Germany, and France, and Spain, etc.

      But I don’t see how proliferating guns in Europe would help make these places safer. I would imagine letting everyone have guns would see Sweden’s murder rate go up. Maybe another 5x to 10x and it would reach US per capita levels. Progress?

      • interceder270@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        Sweden’s problems aren’t the same as Germany or France.

        But I don’t see how proliferating guns in Europe would help make these places safer.

        That’s because you’re ignoring all the nations who have outlawed guns yet have worse gun violence than the US because of their culture. You cherrypick evidence to support your agenda and ignore evidence that goes against it.

        Some would call that ‘biased,’ but that would make them a rational person.

        • farcaster@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          You know what never mind, you seem to think guns in the US are generally a good thing and think they’re generally bad. We’ll probably never agree. Hope you never have to use your guns mate.