TN State Rep Requests And Secures OREA Study On School Shootings In Tennessee
Image Credit: Rep. John Ragan / Facebook
The Tennessee Conservative [By Jason Vaughn] –
Tennessee State Representative John Ragan (R-District 33-Oak Ridge) recently requested a factual study to be performed by the Comptroller of Treasury’s Office of Educational Research and Education Accountability (OREA) on the last 25 years of school shootings in Tennessee.
Representative Ragan has forwarded the study to his colleagues in the Tennessee House of Representatives and Tennessee Senate in preparation for Governor Lee’s Special Session that has been promised to begin on August 21st.
A link to the study can be found HERE.
To follow is a verbatim copy of Rep. Ragan’s email to his colleagues along with a video that was posted by T.Rex Arms on YouTube entitled “Everything Wrong with Red Flag Laws” that was also included in the communication.
From: John Ragan <rep.john.ragan@capitol.tn.gov
Sent: Monday, July 31, 2023 3:21:30 PM
To: House Members <HouseMembers10@capitol.tn.gov>; Senate Members <SenateMembers10@capitol.tn.gov>
Subject: OREA TN School Shooting Study
Dear Colleagues,
This communication transmits a copy of a study I recently requested from the Comptroller of Treasury’s Office of Educational Research and Education Accountability. I am forwarding this document to aid your preparation for the announced extraordinary session scheduled on 21 August 2023.
My intent is to focus our attention on evidence and data related to our state’s school shooting issue, rather than emotions. Consequently, the forwarded file is a 25-year lookback at the reported school shootings only in Tennessee. It is an independent data collection and re-examination of the topic similar to the one I forwarded in May on school shootings in the entire US.
Please permit me to “bottom-line” the data-based conclusions from the attached study:
1. The 49 school shootings in our state during the last 25 years have produced 12 (non-perpetrator) fatalities (half of which were in the Convent School event this year).
2. More than 3/4 of these school shootings occurred at high schools.
3. More than 2/3 of these school shootings occurred in urban or town schools.
4. More than half involved students or former students.
5. Very slightly less than half occurred inside a school building.
6. Over 4 out of 10 school shootings involved dispute escalations.
From other, readily available studies, it is known that the overwhelming majority of school shooter are male. Additionally, from the FBI’s Crime Statistics in Table 20, it is known that, nationally, only a little over 3% of homicides committed with guns are perpetrated with long-guns.
Notwithstanding inflammatory rhetoric, logic demands relatively a balanced, proportional and reasonable approach considering criminally driven deaths from all situations. For example, beyond over 10,000 homicides annually committed with guns, our country experiences over 106,000 drug overdose deaths from illegal drugs, and greater than 11,000 deaths due to drivers illegally operating their vehicles under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
Interestingly, no one seems to be crying out to ban hypodermic needles because of overdose deaths. Likewise, nobody is demanding a ban on Corvettes and Mustangs because of drunk-driver-caused fatalities. Guns, like hypodermic needles and automobiles, have legitimate uses other than causing criminally-inflicted deaths. Consequently, logic seems to require a focus on something other than the inanimate object involved in a criminally-inflicted death.
Regrettably, there are evil people who commit evil acts against the most innocent among us. However, such has been the documented case for millennia of recorded history. Unfortunately, notwithstanding just evil people, there are evil influences and mental illnesses that motivate people to commit evil acts.
Sadly, a person with serious mental illness may not unmistakably manifest it until too late. Additionally, so-called “early warning signs” of mental illness may abound but are ignored because they are culturally acceptable or “politically correct.” This situation creates a fear of being labeled a bigot, or worse, for an objective observer reporting such. “Politically correct” exemplars include many homeless individuals who refuse free shelter or drug addicts who actively avoid “penalty-free” treatment programs. Of course, there are many other examples in other arenas, including the one under discussion, but the point is sufficiently made.
Let us pray that the Almighty gives us the wisdom to discern our duty as well as the strength and courage to do it whether such is popular or not.
Regards,
John D. Ragan
State Representative
###
About the Author: Jason Vaughn, Media Coordinator for The Tennessee Conservative ~ Jason previously worked for a legacy publishing company based in Crossville, TN in a variety of roles through his career. Most recently, he served as Deputy Director for their flagship publication. Prior, he was a freelance journalist writing articles that appeared in the Herald Citizen, the Crossville Chronicle and The Oracle among others. He graduated from Tennessee Technological University with a Bachelor’s in English-Journalism, with minors in Broadcast Journalism and History. Contact Jason at news@TennesseeConservativeNews.com
this is spot on! Kudos to represented Raegan for standing boldly for freedoms and liberties over security! Well done! For those who point to firearm as the problem.. where are you on hypodermic needles? And alcohol? Should we get rid of alcohol because some people choose to drink and drive? Finally, you are either naïve like Bill Lee, or you have an agenda…I fear the agenda that would have us give up our God-given liberties for the promise of security from an inept & incapable government! shame on you all… you are lazy and simple minded! It must be our choice to educate on how we can keep our freedoms & protect ourselves at the same time, but it is school administrators that had better wake up and learn to protect the children that are in their care not dictate to all of us, law-abiding, firearm citizens, that we have to give up our firearms!
Bravo!!
Excellent work, Rep Raegan!
Thank you for covering this story, Mr. Vaughn!
All these studies leave out the most important facts, the political and religious leanings of the shooters.
Well, if they’d release the Nashville shooter’s manifesto or whatever it is, BEFORE this special session, then maybe we would all actually have a better idea of what direction this shooter was coming from, and maybe we would then be able to focus any talks at least in the correct direction. However–anything that strips your rights away when you are a law-abiding citizen should be making the hairs on the back of your neck stand up and should be the criteria by which we hold all politicians when voting.
Colion Noir did a video a day or so ago discussing this. He made the point too that Gov. Lee, the Nashville PD and the FBI won’t release the manifesto and because of that, no one can make any judgments on how best to prevent another shooting and on any gun law changes.
Red Flag Laws violate everybody’s Constitutional Rights and have had no positive effect on stopping shootings where they are already in use. I know it’s tough but try thinking with your heads instead of your hearts. It’s a mental health issue not a gun rights issue.
Where is the study showing what psychotropic pharmaceuticals suicidal shooters have been on.
There was a single study released by a private individual about 10 yes ago, who died in a single car wreck less than a year later.
Showing most of the suicidal shooters were on emotion control drugs.
Why are reporters so incoureiouse?