Active shooter drill: Line of several teens with hands up behind heads stand in side building hallway protected by armed police

95% of public schools conduct active shooter drills. Are students safer?

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Lockdown drills aimed at preparing students to protect themselves from school shooters do more to stir kids’ anxiety than their sense of protection, argues Dr. Annie Andrews, a South Carolina mother, pediatrician and firearm injury researcher. “Our children do not benefit from participating in these drills,” said former congressional candidate Andrews, also co-founder of  Their Future. Our Vote. “Children deserve to feel safe in their schools.”

Among those countering that viewpoint is Alex Piquero, a University of Miami criminologist and former director of the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics. “We are, unfortunately, living in a world where we just have to plan for school shootings and hope that they never happen,” said Piquero, a former editor of the Journal of Quantitative Criminology.

Mass shooting Baltimore: Black policeman in dark uniform stands with 2 black adults outside on grass in front of two-story, red brick apartment building with white porch shelters & trim.

Baltimore samaritan who bandaged a shooting victim from block party says ‘All they know is guns’

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BALTIMORE (AP) — A block party in Baltimore killed two people, wounded 28 others and prompted one resident to jump into action when she found a wounded teenage girl on her doorstep. Police identified the deceased as 18-year-old Aaliyah Gonzalez and 20-year-old Kylis Fagbemi. The 28 injured victims ranged in age from 13 to 32, with more than half younger than 18, officials said.

YouTube logo: YouTube logo on black background

YouTube’s recommendations send violent and graphic gun videos to 9-year-olds, study finds

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WASHINGTON (AP) — When researchers at a nonprofit that studies social media wanted to understand the connection between YouTube videos and gun violence, they set up accounts on the platform that mimicked the behavior of typical boys living in the U.S. They simulated two nine-year-olds who both liked video games.

Oxford school shooter's parents can face manslaughter trial: two people with masks sitting at table with hands cuffed while policeman looks on from background

Oxford school shooter’s parents can face manslaughter trial

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The murders would not have happened if the parents hadn't purchased a gun for Ethan Crumbley or if they had taken him home from Oxford High School on the day of the shooting, when staff became alarmed about his extreme drawings, the appeals court said, in a groundbreaking case of criminal responsibility for the acts of a child.

West Virginia passes campus carry bill: white man in suit and glasses speaks into microphone

West Virginia passes campus carry, bill heads to governor

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A bill that would allow people with concealed carry permits to bring firearms on West Virginia public college and university campuses is heading to the desk of Republican Gov. Jim Justice after passing the final hurdle in the GOP-dominated Legislature. The state House of Delegates voted overwhelmingly in favor of the legislation Tuesday. Justice has not said publicly whether he will sign the bill.

Guns in school: Hand gun and biiks sitting in open black backpack

School gun case sparks debate over safety and second chances

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Most gun incidents in and around campuses are more like Oak Park than Uvalde. They're not planned large-scale shootings, or active-shooter situations. More often, they're smaller altercations that escalate when someone has a gun at or near a school, a game or other event, according to the K-12 School Shooting Database, which tracks incidents from the last five decades.

Gun violence survivors in separate cities: man in black hoodie and glasses in front of fence with gun violence signs on it

In separate cities, hard hit by gun violence, gunshot survivors fight against firearms

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The backstories of Sakran and Pep couldn’t be more different. But their survivor stories drive their activism about the public health threat that gun violence poses and prove what some of the most alarming news headlines increasingly suggest: Almost anybody, almost anywhere, is a potential victim of gun violence.

Public heath strategists tackle New Orleans gun violence: two Black cops looking at crime scene beyond yellow tape

Public health strategists tackle New Orleans’ gun violence

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Mayor LaToya Cantrell last year launched the Office of Gun Violence Prevention. That office funds and evaluates efforts to especially reduce gun violence among youth — 15- through 24-year-olds nationwide accounted for most of a prior decades’ surge in firearm-driven homicides — and has partnered in an effort largely lead by public health professionals who are tackling the problem as more than merely an issue of crime and punishment.