CNN is back at it again with its fearmongering headlines. Back in May, they claimed that there had been 15 school shootings in 2019. This was in the wake of the shootings at UNCC and STEM School Highlands Ranch. Now, only two months later, CNN is claiming that there have been 22 school shootings so far this year.
Once again, we have to take a critical look at what CNN considers a school shooting…
- The shooting must involve at least one person being shot (not including the shooter).
- The shooting must occur on school property, which includes but is not limited to, buildings, athletic fields, parking lots, stadiums, and buses.
- We included accidental discharge of a firearm as long as the first two parameters are met, except in instances where the sole shooter is law enforcement or a security officer.
- We included injuries sustained from BB guns since the Consumer Product Safety Commission has identified them as potentially lethal.
As I’ve stated before, this is a very broad and misleading definition of a school shooting used as a clickbait headline. From all of the 22 shootings they listed, I would only consider four to really be school shootings since they actually took place inside of a school.
Should we be concerned about all 22 shootings? Absolutely, as they show how prevalent gun violence is in this country and how dangerously close many of these crimes are being committed near children. However, if we call everything a school shooting then nothing is a school shooting and we become even number to them when another one happens.
Real Crime with Trench Reynolds 