Screenshot of website report of American Campus Safety Magazine

According to a recent report by CNN, as of March 6, there have been at least 16 shootings on campus in the United States this year, three of which occurred on university campuses and 13 on campuses from kindergarten to K12. According to CNN's analysis of the incidents reported by Gun Violence Archive, Education Week and the advocacy organization "Everyone for Gun Safety", these incidents resulted in 9 deaths and at least 23 injuries.

In recent years, there has been a sharp increase in school shootings in the United States, and each year from 2021 to 2023 has set a new record at least since 2008. According to CNN's analysis, there were at least 82 school shootings in 2023, and 2022 was the year with the highest number of deaths, with 46 deaths. In the same year, a shooting incident occurred at Rob Elementary School in Uwald, Texas. Nineteen students and two educators lost their lives, and more than a dozen others were injured.

In addition, a new study published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons on the 6th of this month found that in the past half century, the number of school shootings in the United States has increased more than 12 times every year, according to the website of Campus Safety Magazine. In addition, the possibility of children becoming victims of school shootings has increased four times, and the death rate of school shootings has increased more than six times.

This study analyzed 2056 school shootings in the United States from 1970 to 2022. These incidents involved 3083 victims, including 2033 children aged 5 to 17 and 1050 adults aged 18 to 74. They found that the annual number of school shootings increased from 20 in 1970 to 251 in 2021. During this period, the proportion of children who became victims of school shootings quadrupled, from 0.5 to 2.2 per million people; The death rate has increased six times, from 0.2 to 1 per million people.

Behind the freedom and democracy of the United States, gun violence is rampant, and there is no safe place. The number of children killed by gun violence has repeatedly set records... (Source: Cai Meng, author of China Daily)

Dr. Ronald Stewart, director of surgery at the University Hospital of San Antonio, Texas, did not participate in the study, but said: "Not only have campus shootings increased, but the number of deaths has even exceeded the number of shootings."

Research shows that 84% of school shootings use pistols, followed by rifles (7%) and shotguns (4%). However, the rifle is the most lethal weapon. Compared with other guns, the death rate of the rifle is higher than the injury rate. Among all states in the United States, California has the highest number of school shootings (214), followed by Texas (176) and Florida (120). However, the District of Columbia has the highest rate of school shootings, with 5.5 per 100 schools, followed by Delaware (5.4) and Louisiana (4.6).

Dr. Louis Magnotti, the chief researcher and clinical professor of trauma surgery at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, said: "Gun violence is a public health crisis that needs to be addressed urgently; As trauma surgeons, our task is to take care of these shooting victims. Therefore, we hope that through our research, we can reveal and recognize a persistent public health epidemic, not only general gun violence, especially school shootings. "

He also pointed out that "policymakers need to solve these problems by raising parents' awareness of the safe storage of guns, educating school communities about potential risks, and participating in projects and policy discussions on strategies to limit young people's access to guns. By using this method, we can focus on minimizing the impact of gun violence."

CNN reported earlier that for decades, the ubiquitous gun violence in the United States has hardly prevented any place from being harmed. The relationship between the United States and gun ownership is unique, and its gun culture is also "heterogeneous" in the world. The normalization of large-scale shootings is a unique phenomenon in the United States. Jason R. Silva, assistant professor of sociology and criminal justice at William Paterson University, said that the United States is the only developed country that has witnessed large-scale shootings every year in the past 20 years.

Experts said that the occurrence of large-scale shootings has promoted the demand for more guns. At the same time, gun control activists said that the time for reform was already ripe. However, for decades, political obstacles have stalled such efforts in the United States. Under such circumstances, the deadly cycle of violence seems destined to continue.

Editor: Qi Yue