Editor's Note: This story was updated to reflect the current number of school shootings, as tracked by Everytown, on February 15, 2018.
There’s no doubt that gun violence is a serious topic, especially when taking into consideration the tragic school shootings that occur across the country with great frequency. And to analyze the critical issue, The Los Angeles Times has created an interactive map that shows every school shooting that has taken place since the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut, which left 20 students and six teachers dead.
According to the map, since December 14, 2012, there have been 290 school shootings in the United States, with a gun being fired on school grounds nearly once a week. The graphic, which is broken up by state, shows the date and location of each shooting, and it also explains whether there were injuries, fatalities, or death by suicide.
The LA Times’ map utilizes data compiled by Everytown For Gun Safety, an organization dedicated to reducing gun violence. In 2013, the group began gathering information on gunfire on school campuses. Everytown noted that the U.S. Department of Education keeps track of people who are killed at primary and secondary schools each year, but they don’t track shootings at colleges and universities, and their data also does not include shootings that take place after school hours. The organization’s research aims to fill in the gap, with the hope of beginning “a reasoned discussion about effective means to promote school safety.”
Related: The Important Conversation We Should Have Surrounding the San Bernardino School Shooting
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