We are regularly told about mass public shootings in our country. The media runs each one out to the maximum. They pick on an eleven-year-old among the victims and force-feed us his baby pictures, his sobbing aunt, people placing flowers under the police tape, and anything else they can dredge up to touch our emotions.
We are exposed regularly to statistics and data that the presenter offers as further proof that guns should be banned and manufacturers sued. Some of these people are even our elected officials and some of them don’t have enough sense to come in out of the rain.
In any case, one must take all this, including statistics with a grain of salt. We are led to believe that terrorism is somehow unique to the US because of so many guns being held by citizens. It should be noted that most of this raw data is taken out of context and therefore becomes misleading.
For example, a study of mass public shooting in 97 countries over 17 years shows that there were 2354 events with 4880 shooters. only 53 of those events, with 54 shooters occurred in the US. Of the 97 countries, the US ranked 64th on a per capita basis. Some countries, including Norway, Russia, Switzerland, France, and Finland ranked higher than the US by at least 25%.
It should also be noted that most of these shootings occur where people can’t defend themselves. Schools, office buildings, stores, lounges, malls, concerts, and sporting events. All either gun-free zones or venues where the physical layout and/or crowded conditions make for an easy killing ground.
Another bit of information never reported by media is that most gun violence on a private level occurs in inner cities with the tightest gun control laws such as Chicago and Detroit.
So before we grab our “Ban Gun” signs and go marching off in the rain, let’s do a bit of homework to see if we really know what we want and why. It seems to me that gun-free zones don’t do much to solve the problem.
Great article Ken. Guns are not the problem in my opinion, but rather the lack of extensive background search whereas an individual gave all the high signs that he/or she should not have a weapon, the lack of the government to enforce the gun problems which for example, face Chicago, and its tiring to hear the same chant after every mass shooting, “Ban the Guns”. How about implementing stricter gun laws for average Americans who apply to carry. Look at the background medically, and perhaps back to high school!.
Once again my good friend Ken, you have established a firm statistical basis for better discernment. Our current crop of looney-tuners fire-up their minions with “mindless political pandering” for votes.
The shooting gun against the innocents those are fascists of the world. I am not afraid. Never have been. Never will be. I also have a message for their doing : I know what those are want to do. those are want to enslave good folks. Make them support policies that are clearly against their own interest. You want these folks to believe that their problems are caused by “others”.