Prevention

Abstract

Following each school shooting, the media ask if these tragedies could have been prevented. In some cases, the shooting could have been prevented, as we will address in greater detail below, but in answer to the bigger question about ending school shootings altogether, the answer unfortunately is no. The issues that drive somebody to engage in mass violence are too large and too varied to completely prevent every such encounter. Some measures have been taken in the USA and abroad to try to curb lethal school violence, such as tighter gun control, metal detectors, and making schools locked facilities. While these measures may have prevented some mass shootings (we cannot ever really know whether or not somebody intended to go on a school rampage, but decided for any reason not to), they are not a failsafe. If we look at mass violence on a global level, we see that it is not unique to countries that allow their citizens access to guns. Indeed, China, which has some of the tightest gun restrictions, saw a spate of mass school rampages in 2010–2011 with offenders using knives, swords, and even a meat cleaver. Others have detailed the failures of metal detectors in the school because there are too many ways to get around these screenings. For example, in one New York City school shooting, the offender bypassed the metal detector and came in a side door. And with Sandy Hook, we saw that an offender intent on entering a locked school can do so.