Echoes of Columbine

When searching for solutions to mass violence, the guns are only one factor in the overall picture. There have been several cases of mass murder that did not involve firearms at all. What follows are some of those incidents, which had many of the same hallmarks as a school shooting without the guns. Some feel these incidents are proof that gun control will not stop mass killings, which is sadly true. Some people are broken beyond what society can ever really understand. In places where guns are difficult to access, people have found other weapons sometimes to even more deadly effect. Deadliest by far has been fire, which is why all public buildings are required to have sufficient fire safety measures in place. Overhead sprinklers, multiple exits, posted exit plans, fire safety drills. These are all in place to prevent further mass fire casualties. Bladed weapons are the most often used in mass attacks, especially in places with strict gun control. Rarely do mass stabbings end w...

Victims Nacunan Saez and Galen Gibson Last Updated: March, 31 2018 Simon's Rock is often forgotten because it doesn't fit the definition of a mass shooting, because only 2 people were killed. This was a mass shooting halted, not by police or an armed bystander but by a jammed gun... there is no way of knowing how many would have been killed that day but the shooter himself confirms that his intention was to kill as many as possible. The Simon's Rock shooting is included in our school shooting research here mostly because this one more than any other illustrates what happens when people don't take a potential threat seriously.  Date: December 14 Year: 1992 School:  Simon's Rock College of Bard Location:  Great Barrington State:  Massachusetts Wounded: 4 Fatalities: 2 Shots Fired: Time lapsed:  18 minutes Police response time:  Shooter's gun jammed, at which point he discarded his weapon and reported his crime.  How ended:...

There is only one single ingredient that every mass shooting has had in common, the gun. This is also the one topic guaranteed to bring out the highest emotions. Mass shootings are not uniquely American, but 31% of the worlds mass shootings take place in America, while accounting for only 5% of the worlds population. America is a gun culture, there is no debating that fact. 320 million Americans own around 350 million guns. The United States can now arm nearly every man, woman and child from shore to shore and still have guns left over. With numbers like that it might seem that every American owns a gun, but only about 40% of the population owns guns. while 3% of the country owns one half of all of the guns. By far the most common guns used in massacres are those that can do the most damage in the least amount of time. Semi-automatic handguns are the chosen weapon in over 70% of mass shootings. Semi-automatic rifles are a second choice, followed by shotguns and then revolvers. ...

School children being treated for injuries after 29 were wounded and 6 were killed in Stockton, CA. 1989 AP Photo/Stockton Record, File Date: January 17 Year: 1989 School: Cleveland Elementary School Location: Stockton State: California Wounded: 29 Fatalities: 6 Shots Fired: 106 Time lapsed: 3 minutes Police response time: N/A How ended: Suicide (before police arrived) Civilians involved: Shooter died before police were on the scene. Perpetrator:  Patrick Purdy Age:  24 Family history: Father was in the military, mother and father divorced when Purdy was a toddler after father threatened mother with weapon. Mother remarried, and neighbors report obvious signs of abuse and neglect through his and his siblings childhoods. It was said the children would be locked out of the house with no coats on, no supervision or guidance. He They moved frequently, and Purdy developed a reputation with the law at a very young age. Child p...