Mass shootings remain rare compared to overall gun violence
EAST LANSING, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - The year 2020 saw the highest number of gun deaths in the United States, according to Pew Research, with more than 45,000. Of those, about half were suicides and 1% were mass shootings.
On college campuses, gun violence and mass shootings are even more rare, according to researcher James Alan Fox at Northeastern University.
"We don't want to minimize the suffering of the of the victims, their families, the campus. It's a horrific event when it happens, but it is rare," Fox said.
According to Fox's research, since 1990, there have been 26 shootings on U.S. college campuses involving two or more victims. Two of those shootings involved Michigan schools - Central Michigan University in March 2018 and Monday night's shooting at Michigan State University.
"They're probably safer when they're on a college campus," Fox said. "When you compare the rate of homicide on college campuses to the rate of homicide in almost any city or town in the United States now, where there is a greater risk is in the area, for example, of sexual violence."
According to data from the nonprofit Everytown for Gun Safety, there were 177 incidents of a gun fired on school grounds last year. Less than 20% of those incidents took place on a college or university campus.
"This subject is not going to go away," said John Ojeisekhoba, president of the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administers. "I think, you know, the community needs to take this seriously, not just after the days after it occurred. It is to be a national conversation about this."
The International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administers is requesting the White House hold a summit to discuss mass shootings at schools and colleges.
