School Gun Violence Facts

False:

• Mental illness is the main reason for school shootings
   
• More guns in more places will make us safer.

True:

• The increased risk of gun violence comes from a history of violence including domestic, substance abuse, and or history of trauma. Mental illness alone is not a predictor of violence.
   
• The majority of school shooters are taking guns from home and America has more guns compared to any other country.

• 23 states and DC have some form of state secure storage law. Safe storage laws require gun owners to lock up their firearm so children can't reach them.
   
• Secured gun storage reduces youth gun violence dramatically - In households that lock up their firearms, there is 85% less unintentional injuries.
   
• In New York, guns have to be safely secured an inaccessible to those not allowed to use them.

• Invest or Join a community mental health group
   
• Take steps to create a suicide prevention team for your communities
   
• Advocate for improved gun safety for adults in schools and parents who own guns
   
• Call your local representatives find them using this Link

• NPR: 74 People have been killed or injured by guns at American schools this year (March 29, 2023) 
   
• Sandy Hook Promise: 17 Facts About Gun Violence
   
• Johns Hopkins University: Debunking Myths About Gun Violence
   
• Columbia Psychiatry: Mass Shootings and Mental Illness
   
• Prevention Institute: Preventing Violence and Reducing Injury
   
• Everytown Research: How to Stop Shootings and Gun Violence in Schools 
   
• New York State: Gun Safety