Guns in School

More than 6 000 children were expelled from US school last year for bringing guns and bombs to school, the US Department of Education said on May 8.

The department gave a report to the expulsions as saying handguns accounted for 58 percent of the 6 093 expulsions in 1996-1997, against 7 percent for rifles or shotguns and 35 percent for other types of firearms.

"The report is a clear sign that our nation's public schools are cracking down on students who bring guns to school," Education Secretary Richard Riley said in a statement. "We need to be tough-minded about keeping guns out of our schools and do everything to keep our children safe."

In March 1997, an 11-year-old boy and a 13-year-old boy using handguns and rifles shot dead four children and a teacher at a school in Jonesboro, Arkansas. In October, two were killed and seven wounded in a shooting at a Mississippi school. Two months later, a 14-year-old boy killed three high school students and wounded five in Paducah, Kentucky.

Most of the expulsions, 56 percent, were from high school, which have students from about age 13. Among the expulsions, 34 percent were from junior high schools and 9 percent were from elementary schools, the report said.