he recent tragedy at the University of California, Santa Barbara has reignited debate over the fraught issues of gun control, mental health, and school safety. The loss of any life is of course tragic. Parents, community members, and policy makers are right to ask questions about how each attack might have been prevented.
But
some perspective is in order. Type “mass shootings” and “common” into a
search engine and you’ll get all sorts of breathless commentary that
might lead one to believe there Americans face a genuine epidemic of
shooting rampages. A few headlines:
Vox: “Mass shootings on campus are getting more common and more deadly.”
ThinkProgress: “Mass Shootings Are Becoming More Frequent.”
NPR: “Study: Mass Shootings Are On The Rise Across U.S.”
Washington Post: “Why are mass shootings becoming more common?”
The truth, simply put, is that mass shootings —as horrible and
nightmarish as they are — are very rare, constitute a tiny sliver of
homicides, and are not becoming more frequent. The debate over
how to respond to gun violence is controversial and unlikely to yield
solutions that will satisfy everyone. That said, any efforts that intend
to strike a balance between safety, self-defense, and civil liberties
must take account of these inconvenient truths.
So...4 mass public shootings in a week is supposed to be "uncommon" now? 4 in a week doesn't show that these situations are "on the rise?" Please.
ReplyDeleteTonight Cleveland news was bitchen about 74,000 school shooting.
ReplyDeleteIs that schools, or the shot people headcount?
He makes a lot of good points so it's disappointing that the author screws up the headline statement simply because he doesn't know the difference between mass shootings and mass killings.
ReplyDelete