State Laws and Risk Among K-12 School Shooting Incidents

Abstract

Introduction: Within the last six years, the United States experienced the two most deadly K-12 school shootings in its history. The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting left 28 dead, including 20 school children. More recently, seventeen students were killed in Parkland, Florida when a gunman opened fire. These events have reignited the need for research on gun violence in America; however, there has been little, if any, research done to understand the associations or factors behind school wide shootings. This is complicated by the fact there is no agreed upon definition (or database) for both mass shootings or K-12 active shooting incidents in the United States. In order to better understand the factors behind school shootings, the broad objectives of this proposal are to evaluate whether different state laws are associated with K-12 shootings in the United States.

Objectives: Broad objectives of this study are to understand whether different state laws are associated with K-12 shootings in the United States. The project aims to create knowledge to inform policy and practice to reduce the incidence of firearm related incidents that negatively affect both adolescents’ health and their opportunity to have a productive learning environment.

Specific Aims:

Aim 1. Evaluate whether the permissiveness-restrictiveness of state gun laws had an effect on the number of K-12 active school shootings.

• Aim 1A. Evaluate differences among scores of permissiveness-restrictiveness.
• Aim 1B. Evaluate whether the state gun ownership had an effect on the number of K-12 active school shootings.

Aim 2. Determine if, and to what extent, specific state-level firearm laws have on the outcome of K-12 school shootings.

Aim 3. Evaluate county level differences in both restrictiveness/permissiveness and specific firearm laws and the outcome of K-12 active school shooting incidents.

Aim 4. Evaluate the association between number of bullets fired and state firearm laws in K-12 school shootings

Aim 5. Submit a large-scale project proposal (e.g., R01)