{"id":332,"date":"2025-04-21T18:10:31","date_gmt":"2025-04-21T18:10:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yakbeetlepress.net\/?p=332"},"modified":"2025-04-28T11:29:06","modified_gmt":"2025-04-28T11:29:06","slug":"exaggerated-data-about-mass-shootings-like-cus-1-in-15-study-dishonors-victims-like-my-daughter-opinion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yakbeetlepress.net\/index.php\/2025\/04\/21\/exaggerated-data-about-mass-shootings-like-cus-1-in-15-study-dishonors-victims-like-my-daughter-opinion\/","title":{"rendered":"Exaggerated data about mass shootings, like CU\u2019s 1 in 15 study, dishonors victims like my daughter (Opinion)"},"content":{"rendered":"

My daughter, Meadow, was murdered in the Parkland school shooting. I\u2019ve spent every day since trying to make sure no other parent has to endure<\/a> what I did. That\u2019s why I\u2019m speaking out now — because the way we talk about mass shootings in this country is broken. The media keeps getting the facts wrong, and worse, they keep ignoring the real causes of these tragedies.<\/p>\n

A recent headline from the University of Colorado<\/a> boldly claims that\u00a01 in 15 U.S. adults have \u201cbeen at the scene of a mass shooting.\u201d\u00a0That means 18 million Americans have witnessed a mass shooting firsthand and 5.6 million \u201cinjured\u201d — absurd claims that don\u2019t pass the smell test. But unfortunately, these kinds of statistics are being repeated without question by people who want to push a narrative, not the truth.<\/p>\n

The academic paper begins by defining a mass shooting as an incident where four or more people are shot, but it never actually asks respondents about that specific scenario. Instead, it asks whether they\u2019ve ever been \u201cphysically present on the scene of a mass shooting in your lifetime,\u201d without explaining what that means. Based on this vague framing, the survey could count someone who merely hears distant gunshots in a rough area as a \u201cmass shooting survivor.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not research. It\u2019s fear-mongering\u00a0disguised as data.<\/p>\n

As the\u00a0Crime Prevention Research Center<\/a> points out,\u00a0even taking numbers put together by a\u00a0gun\u00a0control group the University of Colorado academics cite, shows that victims and criminals were wounded at a rate of at most 1.56% of the 5.6 million victims claimed in this study.<\/p>\n

The truth is this: dangerous, threatening people commit mass shootings. Not law-abiding Americans. And almost every time, the killers give off warning signs long before they act. In the case of my daughter\u2019s murderer, he was known to police, school officials, and even the FBI. He had a history of violence and made repeated threats. But no one acted.<\/p>\n

And here\u2019s another fact the media doesn\u2019t like to talk about: mass shootings overwhelmingly happen in gun-free zones. Schools, churches, shopping centers — places where people are legally disarmed and vulnerable. Criminals don\u2019t care about signs that say, \u201cno guns allowed.\u201d They pick soft targets on purpose because they know they won\u2019t be stopped.<\/p>\n

We saw this in Uvalde, in Nashville, in Parkland. Time after time, the shooter had a clear path because no one was armed and ready to respond. The idea that we\u2019re protecting our kids by keeping schools\u00a0gun-free is not only naive –it\u2019s deadly.<\/p>\n

Twenty states allow teachers to carry concealed handguns. In Utah and New Hampshire, any teacher with a concealed handgun permit can carry. In other states, it is up to school boards or superintendents to decide. And there have been\u00a0no attacks\u00a0where anyone has been killed or injured at any of those schools with armed teacher.<\/p>\n