school shootings
Gun deaths drive historic spike in U.S. child mortality rates
This story was first published by Stateline, an initiative of The Pew Charitable Trusts. After decades of steady improvement, the death rate of America’s children and teens shot up between 2019 and 2021 — and COVID-19 wasn’t the reason. Gun-related deaths represented the largest share of the increase — by far. According to an analysis of the […]
‘Tennessee three’ praised by Biden in White House meeting
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Monday met with three Tennessee state Democratic lawmakers, two of whom were expelled by the Republican-controlled state House after they protested for gun safety measures following a mass school shooting. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris met with Tennessee state Reps. Justin Jones of Nashville, Justin Pearson of Memphis […]
After Nashville shooting, Democratic states push for new gun restrictions
This story was first published by Stateline, an initiative of The Pew Charitable Trusts. After a shooter killed three elementary school children and three faculty members in Nashville last month, hundreds of student activists flooded the Tennessee state Capitol to demand new gun restrictions. On the state House floor, three Democratic members disrupted proceedings by […]
With expulsion of Tennessee Black lawmakers, Republicans lost GenZ. Here’s how
Following a school shooting in Nashville last month, hundreds of protesters gathered in the Tennessee capital demanding lawmakers act to address the out of control gun violence that once again unnecessarily took innocent lives. In response, the Tennessee’s Republican-controlled state House took the historic and extraordinary action of expelling two Black Democratic lawmakers for joining […]
Gun violence is a proxy war on the American public
As the riot of gun violence in America produces fresh massacres by the day, firearm fundamentalists refuse to acknowledge the blood on their hands, and their suicidal stance in the face of escalating carnage is that more guns are the answer. But it’s worse than that. Take a close look at the arguments that gun […]
‘We all ran for our lives’: MSU students describe mass shooting as a never-ending nightmare
‘It’s Valentine’s Day, and we’ve gone zero days without a shooting. That’s just unacceptable.’ Michigan State University students are angry. Yes, they are traumatized; yes, they are overwhelmed with grief and sadness. They know they will need mental health support in the coming days, weeks, months, and years. But, right now, in the wake of […]
Monday numbers: Stopping school shootings before they happen
Behind state efforts to prevent targeted mass shootings After the massacre of 17 people at a high school in Parkland, Florida, in 2018, Gaston County Sheriff Alan Cloninger visited his alma mater, Carr Elementary, in Dallas, North Carolina. What had once seemed innocuous design choices looked to Cloning like security risks that could be exploited […]
Today’s ‘must read’ op-ed: Kids, school safety and elections
If you get a couple minutes, be sure to check out a fine op-ed that was posted this morning by Capitol Broadcasting Company opinion editor Seth Effron at WRAL.com. In “Confronting fear of violence at public school polling places,” Effron shares some important insights on a pair of current and intersecting front burner issues: school […]
Growing up with school shootings hardened my generation in ways you don’t understand
When the voices of 70 elementary school students flooded the speakers of Busch Stadium in St. Louis last week, I was haunted by the ghosts of my own childhood fears. Four days earlier, 19 children about the same age were murdered in their own classroom, along with two teachers, at Robb Elementary School in Texas. […]
How NC’s U.S. House members voted on post-Uvalde gun control legislation
Members of the U.S House advanced a sweeping gun control package Wednesday in response to a recent spate of mass shootings. The 234-204 vote on the “Protecting Our Kids Act” followed the recorded emotional testimony of 11-year-old Miah Cerillo and others before the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform. The fourth-grader from Robb Elementary […]
Fourth grade survivor of Uvalde shooting tells Congress: ‘I don’t want it to happen again’
Content Warning: This story contains graphic descriptions related to gun violence. WASHINGTON — A fourth grader who survived the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting where 19 students and two teachers were murdered told lawmakers Wednesday that she is afraid to go back to school. “I don’t want it to happen again,” 11-year-old Miah Cerrillo said in […]
As NC marks National Gun Violence Awareness Day, gun reform faces an uncertain future in Congress.
On Friday, Governor Roy Cooper joined others in recognizing June 3rd as National Gun Violence Awareness Day, an effort to raise awareness and remember the lives lost to gun violence. North Carolina has the 17th highest rate of gun deaths in the nation. In 2020 there were 1,699 firearm related deaths in our state, […]