CHICAGO (NewsNation Now) — Authorities have confirmed the suspect in Tuesday’s Michigan school shooting used a gun his father bought just four days before the attack, and officials say it’s common for shooters to get their weapons from home.
According to the U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center (NTAC), 76% of the time, firearms used in mass shootings are obtained from the student’s home, a relative or a friend’s home. The study is based on 41 incidents of targeted school violence that occurred in schools from K-12 from 2008 to 2017.
NTAC found that the gun used was not securely stored by its owner in nearly half of school shootings. For example, firearms were kept locked in accessible wooden or glass cabinets, hidden in closets or locked in vehicles.
This is significant, because 17% of attackers plan the weapons they’ll use in their attacks in advance; some even practice with them.
When the attack wasn’t planned, 32% of shooters were able to grab the firearm the day of, NTAC reports.
Moms Demand Action, a gun safety advocacy group, reports 5.4 million children in America live in a home with some type of unsecured weapon.