What do the New York Times, Think Progress, CNN, Global News, The Week, Business Insider, NY Daily News, Seattle Times, Yahoo, Reuters, MSNBC, AOL, etc., all have in common? They dutifully repeat deceptive statistics from gun control groups in order to frighten the public. This is apparently done to advance their agenda of turning “citizens” into “subjects” by taking away their clear constitutional right to keep and bear arms. The latest example is this beauty from the New York Times: “School Shooting in Kentucky Was Nation’s 11th of Year. It Was Jan. 23.”

This headline is followed by incredulity that, because of their frequency, we have become so numb to these tragedies that we barely notice them and of course the rational strategy that something must be done!

When I saw this reported in about 1,245 media outlets I thought to myself, “Self … I think I’m gonna call BS on this one.” Unlike “journalists” all over this great land, I decided to look into this amazing stat with a little bit of skepticism instead of cheerleading. I did some research (Google) and turned to that far right, pro-gun bastion called the Huffington Post.

They actually list all 11 instances that made up this stat and it was pretty interesting. How was it interesting, you ask? The qualifications of a “school shooting” in this oft-reported study, are extremely broad. If there is a gun discharged for any reason near school property, that is considered a “school shooting.” Now, of course, when people hear the term “school shooting,” they think a Columbine-type event, not someone shooting a BB gun at a bus and cracking one of the windows. (Yep, they counted that.)

For those who are interested, here is a quick rundown of what made the list:

1. Jan 3: A man standing in the school’s parking lot called 911 saying he was suicidal. After talking with county officials for several hours he ultimately shot and killed himself.
2. Jan 4: Two shots were fired at New Start High School in Seattle from outside the building. No one was injured.
3. Jan 6: A 32-year-old man fired a pellet gun at a school bus, shattering a window. No one was injured.
4. Jan 10: A student at Grayson College confused a training weapon with a real one and fired a bullet through a classroom wall. No one was injured.
5. Jan 10: A 14-year-old student died in a school bathroom from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
6. Jan 10: At Cal State in San Bernardino, at least one shot was fired, shattering a classroom window. No one was injured.
7. Jan 15: At Wiley College in Marshall, TX, people in a car exchanged gunfire with a person in a dormitory parking lot. No one was injured.
8. Jan 20: A 21-year-old Wake Forest student was shot and killed after an argument during a sorority event.
9. Jan 22: Someone driving by a charter high school in New Orleans fired on a group of students in the parking lot. One boy was injured.
10. Jan 22: A 16-year-old high school student in Texas shot a 15-year-old girl in the cafeteria. She was airlifted to the hospital and was in good spirits as of Tuesday.
11. At a Benton, KY high school, a 15-year-old boy opened fire inside the school killing two and injuring 16.

Obviously, drive-bys, suicides, and pellet gun assaults on buses are not “School Shootings” as most people understand them. I’m sure most people would be surprised that these 11 “shootings” included five where no one was injured and two that were suicides.

By my count, there was exactly one incident that would be commonly understood as a “school shooting.” Now, this is one too many but still, it’s not 11. Why would the media be interested in pushing a blatantly misleading narrative about an “epidemic of gun violence?” Scare tactics like this demonstrate that they know they can’t make their argument based on its merits.

As usual, these people are not interested in researching what might be the reasons behind how something like what happened in Benton, KY. They are more interested in using the ginned-up emotion from tragic events to gather support for their pet political causes. That is why every mass shooting is accompanied by an outcry from the anti-gun left for legislation that would not have prevented said shooting in the first place.