General Gun Violence/Gun Control

[scapa]

Not sure if this thread is the ideal spot for this one, but an interesting think piece from the Guardian about the feedback loops between mass shootings and their social media representations...

‘It isn’t helpful’: how media and mass shootings may reinforce each other

Mass shootings can be contagious, one inspiring another – but do news coverage and social media contribute to the death toll?

www.theguardian.com

 

[Cota332]

One can choose to play the lottery, or not. We cannot choose to stop shopping, going to school or work.

Laws are enacted that affect all of us when there is a need to address a public crisis, even where the incident rate is low. Think about metal detectors in public places and airports to thwart attacks. Those attacks, while rare, are profound.

It’s completely logical to focus on the military-style assault weapons and large-capacity magazines that exist only to enact maximum destruction. There is simply no reason that everyday Americans need access to them.

Most Mass Murders occur in a residence.

Most mass murders offenders are known to their victims.

Most mass murders utilize a handgun as opposed to a rifle.


Knowing this, it is unfathomable to attempt to legislate against Rifles whilst they seldom being used in these events.

 

[MyBelle]

One can choose to play the lottery, or not. We cannot choose to stop shopping, going to school or work.

Laws are enacted that affect all of us when there is a need to address a public crisis, even where the incident rate is low. Think about metal detectors in public places and airports to thwart attacks. Those attacks, while rare, are profound.

ly logicaIt’s completel to focus on the military-style assault weapons and large-capacity magazines that exist only to enact maximum destruction. There is simply no reason that everyday Americans need access to them.

jmo

BBM. Well said especially because it is impossible to legislate common sense. We can do a better job of electing legislators who have stated positions on important issues such as gun violence. jmo

 

[MyBelle]

Schools need to step up and pay closer attention to the fact that too many kids are being raised by dysfunctional parents and that dysfunction is spilling over into schools, resulting in gun violence there.

jmo

MSN

A group of families won a key court victory Friday in an effort to pin some responsibility on a Michigan school district for a shooting that left four students dead and seven others wounded in 2021.

The families can pursue claims that the Oxford district pushed Ethan Crumbley "closer to violent action" when officials threatened to contact child-welfare authorities unless his parents quickly put the teenager into counseling, a federal judge said.

 

[Stunned]

Schools need to step up and pay closer attention to the fact that too many kids are being raised by dysfunctional parents and that dysfunction is spilling over into schools, resulting in gun violence there.

jmo

MSN

A group of families won a key court victory Friday in an effort to pin some responsibility on a Michigan school district for a shooting that left four students dead and seven others wounded in 2021.

The families can pursue claims that the Oxford district pushed Ethan Crumbley "closer to violent action" when officials threatened to contact child-welfare authorities unless his parents quickly put the teenager into counseling, a federal judge said.

So by schools stepping up, that means teachers who are already working with the weight of the world on their shoulders! They do all they can already! (The good ones!)

 

[MyBelle]

So by schools stepping up, that means teachers who are already working with the weight of the world on their shoulders! They do all they can already! (The good ones!)

It means school officials stepping up and reporting the parents of students who need mental help and aren't receiving it. The school district threatened to report Crumbley but they didn't follow through. His parents are also facing charges.

 

[SouthAussie]

Most Mass Murders occur in a residence.

Most mass murders offenders are known to their victims.

Most mass murders utilize a handgun as opposed to a rifle.


Knowing this, it is unfathomable to attempt to legislate against Rifles whilst they seldom being used in these events.

Until the law abiding adults are willing to step up, things are not going to change.

9 mass shootings using AR-15s killed 232 people, and traumatised goodness-knows-how-many.

It is the quantity of people who can be killed in mere SECONDS that is the problem with allowing semi automatic, military-style weapons for public use, as well as the severe damage AR-15s do to the persons - they have little chance of survival.

This is how bullets from an AR-15 blow the body apart


"And we hear this from trauma surgeons about the devastating injuries they see from AR-15s in particular. It's a different sort of weapon. It's not the same as being shot by a handgun."
A look at the rise of the AR-15 in America after 8 killed at Texas outlet mall

How AR-15-style rifles write the tragic history of America's mass shootings

 

[MyBelle]

Until the law abiding adults are willing to step up, things are not going to change.

9 mass shootings using AR-15s killed 232 people, and traumatised goodness-knows-how-many.

It is the quantity of people who can be killed in mere SECONDS that is the problem with allowing semi automatic, military-style weapons for public use, as well as the severe damage AR-15s do to the persons - they have little chance of survival.

This is how bullets from an AR-15 blow the body apart


"And we hear this from trauma surgeons about the devastating injuries they see from AR-15s in particular. It's a different sort of weapon. It's not the same as being shot by a handgun."
A look at the rise of the AR-15 in America after 8 killed at Texas outlet mall

How AR-15-style rifles write the tragic history of America's mass shootings

BBM. Voters need to step-up and vote out those who refuse to pass common sense gun laws.

 

[SouthAussie]

BBM. Voters need to step-up and vote out those who refuse to pass common sense gun laws.

They do.

The voters also need to think outside their own rights, and see that everyone has the right to not be blown apart by an AR-15.

There is something called "common good". It leads to a healthier environment for all.

 

[Betty P]

The families can pursue claims that the Oxford district pushed Ethan Crumbley "closer to violent action" when officials threatened to contact child-welfare authorities unless his parents quickly put the teenager into counseling, a federal judge said.

I’m not sure I understand what they expect from the school. Are they saying the school should have remained silent about his problems?

 

[Betty P]

They do.

The voters also need to think outside their own rights, and see that everyone has the right to not be blown apart by an AR-15.

There is something called "common good". It leads to a healthier environment for all.

JMO, the disturbing trend of mass shootings is a public health and safety problem. A lot of people are becoming concerned about going out to public places, for good reason. They have rights, too.

Maybe business leaders will step up to complain.

 

[AngTxGal]

It is not just the data on relevance that matters, it is also the data on methodology. The current data does not support legislative action on the AR platform (supposed "Assault Weapons"), not just due to one factor, but a myriad.

As for mass murders specifically, the data shows that they have neither been increasing nor decreasing in occurrence since at least the mid-2000's - despite a spike in population.

I understand statistics, and also the methodology of studies. It may very well be that the collection of info seems contrary to the way it is being interpreted.

It cannot be concluded that mass shootings/ murders have not increased using assault style weapons and ammo were made and sold to the public.
What is the difference? Ease of killing

When the guns sold to the public were a version of the guns used in war- more people could be killed in a shorter period of time. That is why ai call them weapons of war- because they were originally designed to be used by soldiers.

Maybe some people do not know the history of assault, AR-15 style guns. I do, my Dad had a hobby as a gun dealer- in the 1960s- 2010 in Texas.
These guns were unavailable, then legal, now legal and advertised in video games.
Young men were Ho have never shot them can tell you all about them, and have simulated shooting people- in video games.
I know- I have a 20 yr old son.

We need restrictions on these guns, create a category with restricted access so they are kept out of the legal hands of 18 yr olds.
JMO

 

[Cota332]

Technically , yes, its true that an AR-15 is simply "more gun" than handguns, as a longer barrel usually means more velocity. Yet still, lethality of AR's vs Handguns are largely dependent on a variety of factors - caliber and ammunition being the biggest.


Further, firearm magazines known as "high-capacity magazines" are also very seldom used in these incidents; it has been fairly well documented that many perpetrators opt for carrying a large number of standard-sized magazines as opposed to fewer high-capacity mags.

Case in point : "The Virginia Tech shooter killed 32 and injured 17 with two handguns, one of which had a 10-round magazine and the other a 15-round magazine. He simply brought 19 extra magazines."




On the basis of the US being unique in Mass Shooting incidents :

"While the U.S. population is 4.6 percent of the world total, only 1.43 percent of mass public shooters were American."
"There were 27% more casualties per capita from mass public shootings in the European Union than in the U.S. from 2009–2015."



Hypothetically, should ALL firearms suddenly be outlawed throughout the US, it remains clear that mass killings will not stop, and the lethality will not decrease :

"Also documented by the Heritage Foundation, bombings, mass stabbings and car attacks frequently kill more people in foreign countries than even the deadliest mass shootings in the United States."



As for raising the minimum age for purchases of firearms :

"The average age of mass public shooters is 34, which means that increasing the minimum age for purchasing firearms would not target the main perpetrators of mass public shootings."


Commonality of Mass Murders Within the US :

"1. Mass killings are rare, and mass public shootings are even rarer.

• Mass killings are very rare, accounting for only 0.2% of homicides every year and approximately 1% of homicide victims.
• Only 12% of mass killings are mass public shootings. Most mass killings are familicides (murders of family members or intimate partners) and felony-related killings (such as robberies gone awry or gang-related “turf battles”).
• Although there has been a slight increase in the frequency of mass public shootings over the past few years, the rates are still similar to what the United States experienced in the 1980s and early 1990s."
• This is not to mention that rifles being used are even more rare, accounting for a fraction of the 0.2% Mass Killings.

 

[CoverMeCagney]

"There were 27% more casualties per capita from mass public shootings in the European Union than in the U.S. from 2009–2015."

Bollocks.

 

[MyBelle]

I’m not sure I understand what they expect from the school. Are they saying the school should have remained silent about his problems?

I think they are saying the school threatened the shooter and that just added fuel to his anger. Instead of the threat, the school should have reported him and his parents to authorities.

jmo

 

[SouthAussie]

"There were 27% more casualties per capita from mass public shootings in the European Union than in the U.S. from 2009–2015."

That statistic was artfully conceived by a pro-gun rights economist, John Lott.

"... extremely misleading. It uses inappropriate statistical methods to obscure the reality that mass shootings are very rare in most countries, so that when they do happen they have an outsized statistical effect. Of the countries chosen by Lott for his analysis, the United States is by some distance the most consistent site of mass shootings."

FACT CHECK

If you look at this graph, it is very clear that the US has mass shooting deaths each and every year.
The other countries have none for most years, and an isolated incident once or twice during the chosen 7-year time period.

 

[MyBelle]

That statistic was artfully conceived by a pro-gun rights economist, John Lott.

"... extremely misleading. It uses inappropriate statistical methods to obscure the reality that mass shootings are very rare in most countries, so that when they do happen they have an outsized statistical effect. Of the countries chosen by Lott for his analysis, the United States is by some distance the most consistent site of mass shootings."

FACT CHECK

If you look at this graph, it is very clear that the US has mass shooting deaths each and every year.
The other countries have none for most years, and an isolated incident once or twice during the chosen 7-year time period.

View attachment 422145

Plus, the devastating effects of assault weapon ammo--especially on children--is what is so devastating.

AR-15s Were Made to Explode Human Bodies. In Uvalde, the Bodies Belonged to Children.

Parents awaiting word on their kids were asked by police to provide DNA samples to help identify the children.

theintercept.com

 

[Sabex]

If you aren't armed, you are at the mercy of those who are.

Get a CC license, learn how to shoot, and be there for your fellow citizens when they need you.

 

[SouthAussie]

If you aren't armed, you are at the mercy of those who are.

Get a CC license, learn how to shoot, and be there for your fellow citizens when they need you.

Killing the killer doesn't seem to be the problem. Most of them are killed AFTER they have gunned down multiple people.

 

[MyBelle]

If you aren't armed, you are at the mercy of those who are.

Get a CC license, learn how to shoot, and be there for your fellow citizens when they need you.

Even if you are armed, you are at the mercy of a complete stranger opening fire upon you first. How many people have you ever seen walking around with a gun in their hand expecting to be shot?

jmo