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Mass Shootings in Schools

The Worst Possible Case for Gun Control

Florida State University, Tallahassee

The most frequent policy lesson drawn following the Columbine school shootings was the need for more gun controls. Review of the details of both Columbine and other contemporary school shootings indicates, however, that the specific gun control measures proposed in their aftermath were largely irrelevant and almost certainly could not have prevented the incidents or reduced their death tolls. These measures included restrictions on gun shows, child access prevention laws mandating locking up guns, and bans on assault weapons. Ironically, exploitation of school shootings for the advocacy of irrelevant gun controls may have obscured the genuine merits of various gun control measures for reducing "ordinary" gun violence. Thus, mass school shootings provided the worst possible basis for supporting gun control.

Key Words: gun control • mass shootings • school violence

This version was published on June 1, 2009

American Behavioral Scientist, Vol. 52, No. 10, 1447-1464 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0002764209332557


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