Schools remain safe environment

In the latest school shooting at an Oregon high school, a teenage student armed with an AR-15 military-style assault rifle shot and killed a classmate in the boy's locker room, wounded a teacher and then committed suicide.

The media report lavishly each time there is a school shooting. However, in the universe of gun violence, school shootings are rare compared to the daily toll of gun violence. According to a June 12 Gazette news article, 'Gun violence at schools continues to climb” in the 18 months since the Newtown, Conn., school shooting (20 children and six adults killed), there have been 41 deaths in 62 incidents in schools. In the same period, more than 47,000 Americans have died from gunshot wounds - 86 people a day.

The fact is that America's schools - which are typically gun free - are among the safest environments for students. Since the Department of Justice began tracking school homicides in 1992, the proportion of youth homicides that occurred at school has never exceeded 2 percent of total youth homicides.

The vast majority of school-age children that are killed by guns are killed in the home or the home of a relative or friend. Why? Because that is where the guns are. In Iowa, approximately one-half of all households contain firearms.

It should also be noted that the guns used in the Oregon shooting came from the student's home. This is not a case of guns in the school. This is a case of guns in the home making their way to the school.

John Johnson

Cedar Rapids