Researchers - Schools Are Safer Than The 90's And Still One Of The Safest Places For Kids

The Parkland, Florida shooting this month has reignited the gun debate with more calls than ever for gun reform. But some researchers at North Eastern university paint an unpopular picture based on statistics and facts that go against popular belief.

In fact, James Alan Fox, the Lipman Family Professor of Criminology, Law, and Public Policy at Northeastern, says that while certain policies may help decrease gun violence in general, it's not likely that any of them will prevent mass shootings.

Since 1996, there have been 16 shootings in schools with multiple victims, or incidents involving 4 or more victims and at least two deaths by firearms not including the shooter. Of these 16, 8 are mass shootings, or incidents involving 4 or more deaths, again, not including the shooter.

<img src="https://media.8ch.net/file_store/4d6e48eb1a69038d2fcc14689bf63238b58261164a196e28e839f3e45d3c28d9.jpg" style="max-height:640px;max-width:360px;">

<span style="margin-top:15px;rgba(42,51,6,0.7);font-size:12px;">Credit: Wiley/Blackwell Publishers</span>

"This is not an epidemic," according to two researchers who say mass shootings are actually incredibly rare events. James Alan Fox and Emma E. Fridel collected data from USA Today, the FBI’s Supplementary Homicide Report, Congressional Research Service, Gun Violence Archive, Stanford Geospatial Center and Stanford Libraries, Mother Jones, Everytown for Gun Safety, and an NYPD report on active shooters.

That isn't the only evidence that goes against using school shootings as evidence for taking guns away from people. One gun store owner in Australia named Peter Athanassiou, 28, says he is tired of people blaming him every time a criminal does something wrong. "If you look at the stats prior to Port Arthur and after, nothing's changed," he said.

"Twenty years prior to that, the same sort of st. Every time a criminal does something wrong, it's our fault," he explains. "We don't have time for that st. I cop it all the time … 'You're a monster.' Greenies coming into the store and shouting … They're targeting the wrong people."

<img src="https://media.8ch.net/file_store/65e953c216640af144031b7aedf0151d2d4cc2d0c39feedccee75040217d556c.jpg" style="max-height:640px;max-width:360px;">

<span style="margin-top:15px;rgba(42,51,6,0.7);font-size:12px;">Credit: qt.com.au</span>

"Australian gun laws are s**t. Gun laws didn't change anything. People are still getting shot," Athanassiou said. He also says the rules are a 'pain in the arse' and that 90 percent of guns used in crimes aren't bought legally away.

"I can't sell a semiautomatic .22 rifle that does for shooting rabbits, but I can sell you a gun that will take down an airplane," he said as he explained how Australia's regulations don't even make sense. Because of the strict but irregular gun regulation, Athanassiou says the shooting community is treated like criminals.

Related coverage: <a href="https://thegoldwater.com/news/19506-House-Democrats-Introduce-Bill-to-Ban-Semi-Automatic-Firearms-Nationwide">House Democrats Introduce Bill to Ban Semi-Automatic Firearms Nationwide</a>

<i>On Twitter:</i>

<a href="https://twitter.com/MAGASyndicate">@MAGASyndicate</a>

Tips? Info? Send me a message!

Source: https://news.northeastern.edu/2018/02/schools-are-still-one-of-the-safest-places-for-children-researcher-says/

https://www.qt.com.au/news/aussie-gun-store-owner-says-were-getting-it-wrong/3345350/