FireArm Friday: Thing REALLY WERE BETTER in the Past! - #2A
Why Weren't There Mass Shootings When Rifle/Shooting Clubs Were Prevalent in American Schools?
Why Weren't There Mass Shootings When Rifle/Shooting Clubs Were Prevalent in American Schools?
At their peak, there were clubs in TENS OF THOUSANDS of schools. Students actually brought their rifles to school--even in New York City…
The topic of guns in America will always be fraught with tension; but, we still need to endeavor to examine all aspects of this issue, not just the ones that support our perspective. I would love to see a robust, roundtable of pro- and anti-gun advocates speaking in a respectful manner, exploring different angles of the debate (with statistics in tow) like mental health, SSRIs, semi-automatic rifles and pistols vs. fully automatic assault rifles, universal background checks, red flag laws, religious belief systems or lack thereof—everything.
I fear that this is just wishful thinking on my part, however.
In light of the most recent school shooting in Minneapolis (killing two students and injuring 21 others at a Catholic school), and enduring the concomitant hue and cry for more gun control, it was brought to my attention during research that in the past, there were shooting clubs at schools where students actually brought their guns to school to shoot—and some even on public transportation. The clubs were in schools all over the country, in cities like New York, Chicago, and DC—and there were no mass shootings.
(NOTE: The FBI’s definition of a mass shooting has traditionally been four or more people killed. Other organizations define it as four or more people shot but not necessarily killed. I’ve seen the media use both definitions.)
According to John Lott of the Crime Prevention Research Center:
Until 1969 virtually every public high school—even in New York City—had a shooting club. High school students in New York City carried their guns to school on the subways in the morning, turned them over to their homeroom teacher or the gym coach during the day, and retrieved them after school for…