There they go again. Within minutes of the deadly and horrific shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in South Florida on Wednesday, the Left-wing media began pushing for gun control by promulgating a fabricated claim that it was the “18th school shooting so far this year”.
ABC News: “There have been 18 school shootings in the first 45 days of 2018, according to a nonprofit group.”
New York Daily News: “There have been 18 school shootings so far this year, including one that claimed 17 lives at a Florida public school Wednesday.”
WUSA9: “Within the first couple months of 2018, there have now been 18 school shootings across the United States.”
Time: “The Florida School Shooting Was the 18th School Shooting of the Year. And It’s Only February”
However, a simple fact check reveals these claims to be highly dishonest. In fact, you would have to completely re-define “school shooting” in order to fit their narrative.
For example, in Everytown for Gun Safety’s breakdown of the alleged shootings, it is evident that eight of the 18 incidents did not result in any injuries or fatalities. Of the remaining 10 alleged shootings, Everytown lists two as an “attempted or completed suicide, with no intent to injure other person.” One of the suicides occurred in the bathroom of an Arizona school and the second in the parking lot of a Michigan school. No one else was injured in either incident.
Of the remaining eight incidents, Everytown lists one as a “gun fired unintentionally.” Which was an incident on February 5, in Maplewood, Minnesota, when a third-grader accidentally pulled the trigger on a cop’s gun.
Of the remaining seven, where a gun was fired to harm others, at least one of the incidents was a single shot fired following an early morning fight at Wake Forest University. One shooting happened outside a Louisiana high school resulting in a 14-year-old receiving an “superficial” wound, and another resulted in a 15-year-old girl being wounded by a 16-year-old boy.
When suicides, accidental discharges, purposeful shootings without injuries, and purposeful shootings with only “superficial” wounds are counted as school shootings on par with the attack on Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School or Columbine, then we have reached a point when the phrase “school shootings” can connote anything.
