Moses Lake, Washington; Jonesboro, Arkansas; Edinboro, Pennsylvania; Paducah, Kentucky; Pearl, Mississippi; Springfield, Oregon; Littleton, Colorado have each experienced school shootings by one or more students acting in concert. The major media and the Clinton Administration are quick to point up "easy access to guns." These accusations, however, have more to do with their anti-gun agenda than with the reality of the situation. Guns have been around a long time, more easily accessible to children in years past than now. Most parents can remember when guns were present in gun racks in unlocked pickups in school parking lots. They were not stolen; they were not brandished; they were not taken into the school building; they were not used to threaten anyone; they were not used to kill teachers and other students. Today, it is illegal to take a gun on school property. That these incidents have happened under the watch of "gun free zone" laws is proof that no amount of laws curtailing youth access to guns and use of guns will curb or cure the problem. Laws are made for law-abiding people; not for those who act outside the law.

Besides guns, the media is also quick to point a finger at parents, society, video games, and television violence. As with guns, most adults today grew up with the "shoot-'em-up, kill-'em-dead" westerns of John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart. Yet none of us had a hankering to take a gun to school and shoot teachers and classmates.

So what is going on? Why are these children going off the deep end? The links to the left study various aspects of youth violence, and how youth violence is being dealt with in the public sector.

Note: If you are accessing this page from another webpage, please click here to bring up the Youth Violence webpage and corresponding links.

╪