I am astonished that people start pointing a finger at AR15 style guns for the rash of school shootings, without looking at the underlying causes and statistics. Let’s take a look when the school shootings really took a foothold and see if we can draw any conclusions:
• 2018, 14 February - Marjory Stoneman Douglas High school shootings - (17 dead)
• 2015, 1 October - Umpqua Community College shooting - (10 dead)
• 2014, October 24- Marysville Pilchuck High School shooting - (5 dead)
• 2013, June 7 - 2013 Santa Monica shooting - (6 dead)
• 2012, December 14- Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings - (28 deaths)
• 2012, 2 April - Oikos University shooting - (7 deaths)
• 2008, February 14 - Northern Illinois University shooting - (6 deaths)
• 2007, 6 April - Virginia Tech massacre - (33 deaths)
• 2006, October 2 - West Nickel Mines School shooting - (6 deaths)
• 2005, 21 March - Red Lake shootings - (10 deaths)
• 1999, 20 April - Columbine High School massacre - (15 deaths)
• 1998, May 21 - Thurston High School shooting - (4 deaths)
• 1998, March 24 - Mitchell Johnson and Andrew Golden - (5 deaths)
• 1991, 1 November - University of Iowa shooting - (6 deaths)
• 1989, 17 January - Stockton schoolyard shooting - (6 deaths)
So if we do a quick count, there are a total of 17 shootings taking a total of 170 people killed in 29 years.
The Columbine shooting in 1999 is the most well recognized. The killings were perpetrated by two men 18 and 17 years old using pistols, 2 shotguns, and 1 rifle.
Next was a youth named Jeffrey Weise; he perpetrated the Red Lakes shooting at the age of 16 years old He used a .22 pistol, a .40 cal pistol, and a 12 ga. shotgun.
West Nickel Mines School shooting is next. It was perpetrated by a solo male 32 years of age, Charles Carl Roberts IV. He used a bolt-action 30-06 rifle, and females were his primary target at an Amish school.
Next is the Virginia Tech shooting, which is in our minds as one of the worse. This attack was perpetrated by Seung-Hui Cho at age 23 The weapons used, two handguns: a Glock 19 (unknown caliber) and a Walther P-22 .22 caliber pistol.
The Northern Illinois University shooting was perpetrated by a 27 year old male named Steven Kazmierczak. He perpetrated the crime using a 12 ga. Shotgun, two .380 semi-automatic pistols, and a 9mm Glock pistol.
Next on our list is the Oikos University shooting. This crime was perpetrated using a .45 caliber pistol. The perpetrator was a 49 year-old South Korean national male.
Sandy Hook Elementary School is probably the most notable shooting. Adam Peter Lanza was 20 years old when he perpetrated this crime. Weapons used was a 10mm Glock 20, and a .223 Bushmaster semi-automatic rifle. There is great debate on which weapons were actually used. The surviving victims claimed Lanza only used a handgun. It was later reported that the .223 Bushmaster was later found locked in his trunk. However, the .223 Bushmaster and the Glock 20 were found next to Lanza’s body, and a Saiga 12-ga. shotgun was found in the trunk.
A killing spree by a lone shooter occurred in Santa Monica, California, starting with a domestic dispute and subsequent fire at a home, followed by a series of shootings near and on the campus of Santa Monica College. The shooter, 23-year-old John Zawahri, was killed by police officers when he exchanged gunfire with them at the Santa Monica College library. Weapons used were a Homemade AR-15-typesemi-automatic rifle and a Remington Model 1858 revolver.
The Marysville Pilchuck High School shooting occurred in Marysville, Washington, on October 24, 2014, when 15-year-old freshman student Jaylen Fryberg shot five other students, fatally wounding four, before fatally shooting himself. Weapon used was a .40 caliber Beretta pistol.
The Umpqua Community College shooting occurred on at the UCC campus near Roseburg, Oregon. Chris Harper-Mercer, a 26-year-old enrolled at the school fatally shot an assistant professor and eight students in a classroom. Weapons used were three pistols: A .40 Smith & Wesson, .38 Smith & Wesson, 9mm Glock, and a .380 Hi-Point.
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, was the latest school shooting. The crime was perpetrated by Nikolas Jacob Cruz, a 19-year-old male Weapon used was an AR-15 style .223 cal semi-automatic rifle.
According to the US Census report, there are about to 16 million students enrolled in colleges across the United States (US). And, together with Pre-K through 12th grade, there are a total of 74.6 million students currently in the US.