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No, there have not been 18 school shootings already this year, as CNBC, Politico, The Washington Post, ABC, The (New York) Daily News and briefly a USA TODAY column all reported in the hours since a 19-year-old allegedly slaughtered 17 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, in Parkland, Fla., on Ash Wednesday.
Fake stats like that make finding a solution to the real problem of gun violence, which has actually struck American schools at least six times this year, that much harder. Amping up fears, and muddying the search for fixes that can cut back the senseless violence, only undermines efforts to reconcile the real concerns of parents and the legitimate desire of civil rights advocates to protect the Bill of Rights.
Everytown for Gun Safety, the gun-control advocacy group responsible for spreading this bogus statistic, should be ashamed of its blatant dishonesty. When parents hear the words “school shooting,” their hearts freeze and their heads fill with images of Sandy Hook: dead and dying grade-schoolers, broken and bleeding in a classroom, helpless teachers crying over their charges and slain colleagues as a black-clad killer switches magazines in his AR-15.
That’s mostly not what Everytown is talking about. At least when The Washington Post reported Everytown’s propaganda, it included some important caveats:
“That data point … includes any discharge of a firearm at a school — including accidents — as a ‘shooting.’ It also includes incidents that happened to take place at a school, whether students were involved or not.”
The Post should have kept including caveats. By Everytown’s criteria, nobody has to be injured and the “shooting” doesn’t actually have to take place on campus, though it does have to be heard on campus or a bullet has to hit somewhere on campus.
originally posted by: neo96
Everyone has 'gun stats'.
Even lil ole me.
The cherry on top?
I happen to want more gun control but also like the 2nd Amendment. Yet people just assume I want to ban all guns anyways.
originally posted by: Krazysh0t
a reply to: Shamrock6
By that same token it's equally annoying whenever someone says, "I want more gun control" and then pro-gun supporters warp that to "They want to come for my guns and ban all guns!"
I happen to want more gun control but also like the 2nd Amendment. Yet people just assume I want to ban all guns anyways.
originally posted by: notsure1
a reply to: Krazysh0t
bomber bombs someone we blame the bomber, Drunk driver kills someone we blame the driver, Oj stabs his wife with a knife 100 times we blame OJ.
Guy shoots people we blame the gun.
originally posted by: Edumakated
originally posted by: Krazysh0t
a reply to: Shamrock6
By that same token it's equally annoying whenever someone says, "I want more gun control" and then pro-gun supporters warp that to "They want to come for my guns and ban all guns!"
I happen to want more gun control but also like the 2nd Amendment. Yet people just assume I want to ban all guns anyways.
IMHO, the issue is the gun grabber side is being purposely intellectually dishonest. It makes it hard to take you guys seriously or not suspect alterior motives.
A big problem with regulations is that you give an inch, they take a mile.
IMHO, the issue is the gun grabber side is being purposely intellectually dishonest.