By Nina Vinik
Every time a young person opens fire at a school, the same question follows: Where did they get the gun? That question came up again after a 16-year-old killed three children and an educator at Silver Rail Elementary School on Oct. 15 in Bend, Oregon.
The answer is predictable, because we’ve heard this story before. In 2021, a 15-year-old killed four classmates at Oxford High School in Michigan with a gun bought by his parents. In 2024, a 14-year-old killed two students and two teachers at Apalachee High School in Georgia with a rifle his father gave him. In Bend, the shooter used a gun purchased by his mother, authorities say.
In at least 7 out of 10 school shootings in the U.S. since 1999, the shooter has been younger than 18. When the U.S. Secret Service studied targeted attacks on K-12 schools, it found that in about 3 out of 4 cases involving a firearm, the attacker took it from the home of a parent or close relative.
Most school shootings don’t start with a minor shopping at a gun store. They start with a gun brought into the home by an adult, believing it would make the family safer.