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Do guards in schools work to prevent shootings?
A recent study by researchers from The Violence Project suggests that armed guards in schools don’t reduce fatalities. Researchers examined 133 school shootings and attempted school shootings between 1980 and 2019, tallied up by the K-12 School Shooting Database. At least one armed guard was present in almost a quarter of cases studied, and researchers found no significant reduction in rates of injuries in these cases. In fact, shootings at schools with an armed guard ended with three times as many people killed, on average. “Whenever firearms are present, there is room for error, and even highly trained officers get split-second decisions wrong,” the researchers wrote. “Prior research suggests that many school shooters are actively suicidal, intending to die in the act, so an armed officer may be an incentive rather than a deterrent.”
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For mass shootings more broadly, there’s evidence that unarmed bystanders have stopped more attacks in these early minutes than armed people. Researchers from ALERRT analyzed 249 shootings between 2000 and 2021 that ended before police arrived. Most ended with the shooter fleeing the scene or dying by suicide, but bystanders subdued the shooter without guns nearly twice as often (42 cases) as a bystander who shot them (22 cases).
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For mass shootings more broadly, there’s evidence that unarmed bystanders have stopped more attacks in these early minutes than armed people. Researchers from ALERRT analyzed 249 shootings between 2000 and 2021 that ended before police arrived. Most ended with the shooter fleeing the scene or dying by suicide, but bystanders subdued the shooter without guns nearly twice as often (42 cases) as a bystander who shot them (22 cases).
Everytime there is a school shooting the pro gun side calls for armed guards in schools to stop that "bad guy with a gun". When will the data and the science make a dent in the "guns make us safe" mentality? There are also other detrimental effects brought on by the presence of armed guards in schools like the paranoia it inspires in the children. The article is a pretty good read.
The next move is to "harden the schools", to make it harder to get into. That shows a better outcome but is not without it's downside. Along with the feeling of being incarcerated there is the fact that between 2014 and 2019 there were 3,230 fires in public schools (K-12). If it's harder to get in it's harder to get out.
It seems the flaw in our approach to gun violence is react instead of prevent. The pro gun side advocates severe punishment AFTER someone is guilty of a shooting.
Gun violence can be reduced. Period. It takes only the will among our legislators to do it. Things like permit to purchase, enhanced background checks (including interviews with family and employers and social media) and covering the most lethal firearms with the National Firearms Act.
The vast majority of Americans want more gun regulation. It's the gun makers and their lobby (the NSF) that don't.
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