I have wanted to write a similar post. I actually think that the two main clusters of school shootings are so different that they shouldn’t even be considered the same thing. On the one hand we have shootings which have a small number of victims, usually involve handguns, and tend to be related in some way to urban gang violence; on the other hand we have the shootings with a large number of victims or intended victims, often involve assault rifles of some kind, and tend to be related to socially isolated individuals who justify their actions as some kind of revenge. (And your post made me more aware of a third category, which is acts of violence which by happenstance take place near a school, which really shouldn’t count as the same thing.)
The former group makes up the vast majority of cases recorded as “school shootings” but gets essentially zero national press; the latter group is extremely rare relative to the former, but gets infinite coverage. But there is almost no overlap between the causes, means, and motives between the two groups, and things which will help one will do almost nothing for the other.
I have wanted to write a similar post. I actually think that the two main clusters of school shootings are so different that they shouldn’t even be considered the same thing. On the one hand we have shootings which have a small number of victims, usually involve handguns, and tend to be related in some way to urban gang violence; on the other hand we have the shootings with a large number of victims or intended victims, often involve assault rifles of some kind, and tend to be related to socially isolated individuals who justify their actions as some kind of revenge. (And your post made me more aware of a third category, which is acts of violence which by happenstance take place near a school, which really shouldn’t count as the same thing.)
The former group makes up the vast majority of cases recorded as “school shootings” but gets essentially zero national press; the latter group is extremely rare relative to the former, but gets infinite coverage. But there is almost no overlap between the causes, means, and motives between the two groups, and things which will help one will do almost nothing for the other.