“They’re very difficult to build a pattern behind. It’s not like criminal activity, which you can target and prevent through law enforcement. This is harder,” the Texas congressman told CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union.”
Crenshaw’s remarks follow a devastating massacre at a Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee, which claimed the lives of three children, age 9, and three adults.
According to a CNN calculation, the shooting was the 19th shooting at an American school or university in 2023 in which at least one person was hurt.
Also, it was the bloodiest incident since a May 2022 elementary school attack in Uvalde, Texas, which claimed 21 lives.
Since the shooting in Uvalde, where the shooter shot about 100 bullets before being slain by police who broke into a classroom more than an hour later, there have been 42 K–12 school shootings.
Although such instances are still rare and schools are still relatively safe, the tragedies have left kids, their parents, and school administrators grappling with how to stop and address mass shootings.
“I think we do need to have a real conversation about what is happening here. What I have long called this is sort of social contagion that’s occurred ever since Columbine,” Crenshaw said Sunday, asserting that, “This never happened before Columbine, but then Columbine happened and it was very famous and it sort of opened the door for very, very disturbed people, whoever they might be, to go in and commit these kind of dramatic, randomized shootings as their outlet for their own evil and crazy.”
In one of the bloodiest mass shootings in US history, two adolescents massacred 12 classmates and one teacher at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, in 1999.
In response to Bash’s question about how to address the problem in order of priority, Crenshaw demanded: “a minimum of two armed guards at every school in America from here on out.”
Continue reading the latest news articles we posted on this site:
- Efforts To Enhance School Safety Underway In States Following Tennessee Shooting
- Friend’s Suicide Inspires Student To Start Positivity Movement At School
Despite receiving campaign contributions from the Political Victory Fund of the National Rifle Association of America, Crenshaw declined to advocate for any government limitations on firearms, saying“You’re not going to get rid of guns, and I’m not going to say that people can – that law-abiding citizens cannot defend themselves anymore and exercise their Second Amendment rights and think that’s going to stop mass violence.”
“People will figure out other ways to commit mass violence,” Crenshaw said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Wonder database states that in 2021, firearms were responsible for about 19% of child deaths (ages 1–18). That year, incidents involving guns resulted in about 3,600 youngsters dying.
For every 100,000 children in the United States, that translates to around five lost children. Guns are not among the top four causes of child mortality in any similar country, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation analysis.
Patricia Gault is a seasoned journalist with years of experience in the industry. She has a passion for uncovering the truth and bringing important stories to light. Patricia has a sharp eye for detail and a talent for making complex issues accessible to a broad audience. Throughout her career, she has demonstrated a commitment to accuracy and impartiality, earning a reputation as a reliable and trusted source of news.