In the wake of the heinous attack on Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, pro-gun control liberals spread the misleading claim that there have already been 18 school shootings in 2018.
The claims were led by Michael Bloomberg-funded Everytown for Gun Safety, which tweeted:
Our hearts are with all those impacted by the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida today.
This is the 18th school shooting in the U.S. in 2018. https://t.co/YdPLz4zuOS
— Everytown (@Everytown) February 14, 2018
The figure of 18 school shootings was repeated by Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), who tweeted:
Just awful, gut-wrenching news. My heart breaks for the victims and families of the horrific shooting in Parkland, FL. This is the 18th school shooting in the first 43 days of 2018. We cannot accept this as normal. We must address gun violence. https://t.co/QYrhLkKgi6
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) February 14, 2018
A fact check immediately shows that a claim of 18 school shootings is not supported by facts.
For example, in Everytown for Gun Safety’s breakdown of the alleged shootings, it is evident that eight of the 18 incidents did not result in any injuries or fatalities. Of the remaining 10 alleged shootings, Everytown lists two as an “attempted or completed suicide, with no intent to injure other person.” One of the suicides occurred in the bathroom of an Arizona school and the second in the parking lot of a Michigan school. No one else was injured in either incident.
Of the remaining eight incidents, Everytown lists one as a “gun fired unintentionally.” Of the remaining seven, where a gun was fired to harm others, at least one of the incidents was a single shot fired following an early morning fight at Wake Forest University. One shooting happened outside a Louisiana high school resulting in a 14-year-old receiving an “superficial” wound, and another resulted in a 15-year-old girl being wounded by a 16-year-old boy.
When suicides, accidental discharges, purposeful shootings without injuries, and purposeful shootings with only “superficial” wounds are counted as school shootings on par with the attack on Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School or Columbine, then we have reached a point when the phrase “school shootings” can connote anything.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News, the host of the Breitbart podcast Bullets with AWR Hawkins, and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.
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