Homeschooling Isn't the Solution to 390 Million Guns

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Following yet another horrific mass shooting in the United States—this one in an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas where a gunman killed at least 19 children and two adults—some conservatives and libertarians have offered takes ranging from unhelpful (“thoughts and prayers”) to idiotic (“lets put more guns in schools”).

Then there are the people using the tragedy to push for parents to take their kids out of school. The Federalist published the following putrid pool of trash water: “Tragedies Like The Texas Shooting Make A Somber Case For Homeschooling.”

One of the problems with proposing homeschooling as a solution to school shootings is that, by some estimates, there are more guns than people in the United States. In 2017, the New York Times reported that there were 270 million guns in the U.S. A year later, in 2018, a new survey by the nonpartisan Small Arms Survey put that figure at 393 million, or 120.5 civilian-owned guns for every 100 living people in the U.S.

The proposal to homeschool kids also ignores that people die from gun violence in their homes. The Uvalde gunman allegedly shot his grandmother, critically wounding her in their home, before going to the school—just the latest example of the troubling connection between mass shooters and domestic violence. The gun safety group Everytown estimates that, in 53 percent of mass shootings between 2009 and 2020, the perpetrator shot a family member or current or former intimate partner.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/homeschooling-isn-t-the-solution-to-390-million-guns/ar-AAXIBCj

[Irish_Dem]

1. Hide our children at home, maybe in attics. Or secret hiding places.

Wait, that isn't safe either. Gun violence in the home too.

[ymetca]

2. Yeah, that's another one of their objectives

to destroy public education entirely. Now, through the ubiquity of social media and stochastic terrorism, they can trigger as many "lone gunman" types as they wish.

Maybe we can regulate bullets? Where in the Constitution does it say you have a right to bullets? Make your own.

This is just madness.

[ThoughtCriminal]

3. There are so many guns in the homes they are probably safer at school

The school is one of the few gun-free environments where children spend time. Even with the plague of school shootings, they are much more likely to be victims in a home where guns are present.

https://www.nationwidechildrens.org/research/areas-of-research/center-for-injury-research-and-policy/injury-topics/general/gun-safety


- Nearly 1,300 children younger than 18 years of age die from shootings every year.
- 1 in 3 families with children have at least one gun in the house. It is estimated that there are more than 22 million children living in homes with guns.
- Most of the victims of unintentional shootings are boys. They are usually shot by a friend or relative, especially a brother.
- Nearly 40% of all unintentional shooting deaths among children 11-14 years of age occur in the home of a friend.
- Adolescents are at a higher risk for suicide when there is a gun in the home.