By definition, in 2018 there have indeed been 18 school shootings in the us

Yes, the term up for debate is indeed "School Shooting" and not "Deadly School Shooting" or "Mass Shooting" or "Accidental School Shooting". The term "School Shooting" itself is a relatively new term, and has no legal definition. So we have to look further into the context in which it is used to determine whether or not gun-suicides and accidental discharges would classify as a shooting in general, or, when taking place in a school, would be defined as a school shooting. Now, the dictionary definition of "shooting" is "the action or practice of shooting", meaning that in this context, any discharge of a firearm would be considered "shooting". The defining point is when the noun "shooting" is placed into a term. For instance, the term "mass shooting" could grammatically mean "the action or practice of shooting en-masse", but this is not what the term is actually used for. It is used to denote a situation in which a gun is "discharged multiple times by one or more parties into a group of unarmed victims"*. This definition is most often used by the media to denote a mass murder that was performed with a firearm. By this definition a "school shooting" would be the same scenario, but performed in a school, and it is used in such a way by the media. A good way to bring this into perspective would be to compare "shooting" to a word of similar meaning: "stabbing", which is defined as "a thrust of a pointed weapon". This, in and of itself, does not specify that the stabbing must be directed at a living target, but this is what is implied when the news states that "a stabbing occurred". You'd be hard-pressed to find an article in which a "stabbing" does not refer to a violent crime performed with a "pointed weapon". The same goes with "shooting", which is to say, when the media refers to a "shooting", they are almost exclusively referring to a violent crime performed with a firearm. Further, when the media refers to a "mass shooting" or "school shooting", there is little to no context in which this does not imply a violent crime. So, based on all of this, when EveryTown For Gun Safety states that there have been 18 "school shootings" so far in 2018 they are deliberately implying that these were violent crimes, knowing that people across the US have come to understand that "school shooting" bears relation to mass-murders such as Columbine, Sandy Hook, and now, Parkland. There may not be a set-in-stone definition of what a "school shooting" is, but it has been used in reference to the previously stated events enough that it would be difficult not to associate the phrase with them. Finally, it bears merit to ascertain the motivation behind the reporting party, to determine bias and furthermore, whether or not that bias has affected the reporting. Everytown For Gun Safety is a non-profit organization that's stated mission is to end gun violence and build safer communities**. Based on this, we can assume that they are, to an extent, looking to reform gun laws, which gives us an idea of the direction of their bias. So, it is not out of the question that, in order to drive their cause further, they used language that would be most likely to draw a response, i.e "school shooting". It is also beneficial to note that the organization is funded primarily by Michael Bloomberg, who is liberal-leaning and has often spoken for stricter gun control, and thus it would make sense that the organization was in keeping with his values In summary, I would like to argue 3 points: 1. While the definition of "school shooting" is far from concrete, it has historically been used in reference to mass murders taking place in schools and using firearms. 2. Everytown For Gun Safety is a biased organization which has the goal of supporting gun regulation reform. This bias can effect the impartiality of their reporting. 3. Everytown For Gun Safety used the term "school shooting" to support their political bias, taking advantage of the loose official definition of the term to make their report more politically inflammatory and giving them a sharper edge to their argument. *https://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com... **https://everytown.org...