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No, I'm afraid I'm smart enough to not compare raw counts with rates. Just look at the rates and we are the highest in both mass shootings and mass shooting deaths. (not counting small countries like Switzerland, Slovakia in the mix)
If you want to live in your own well regarding the Australian mass shootings go right ahead. I never considered Monash and Hectorville as mass shootings. I consider them homicides because the shooters fully knew their victims. Case closed!
If you believe the US does not have a mass shooting problem, this discussion is moot. The other posters are at least trying to have an honest discussion about a problem the whole world has realized we have. It's a pity that the US is still in denial mode.
I count all countries, not just the ones convenient to my agenda. Anything less is just moving the goalpost, since at any time you can find another difference to exclude another country.
So there you got it, proof that all other civilized countries in the world are better off than Merica with their gun loving gun nuts and nitwits.
Norway, Finland, Slovakia and Switzerland all have lower.... oh.... wait....
Never mind!
Are you comparing a terrorist attack (Norway) with other mass shootings? 8 people were also killed by a 2,000 lbs bomb in Oslo. The terrorist, Anders B. Brevik, planned the attack carefully. He bought the guns in 2010. Breivik is mentally sane and is most likely a psychopath.
What do most of the mass shooters have in common? They're usually mentally unstable, male and age 18-24. They feel unloved and are quiet and withdrawn. These people are sick of being ignored.
What happens after one of these shootings? Blanket news coverage across every type of media. Everybody knows who this person is now, and they got the attention they so desperately were seeking.
Our media is partially at blame for these incidents, as they saturate the airwaves, the Internet and print with news and information about this individual and it only emboldens future shooters to do the same. Taking away guns does not solve this issue -- the same attention-seekers will use other methods to achieve the same result.
Remove the national spotlight and you remove much of the incentive for at least some of these mass shooters.
What do most of the mass shooters have in common? They're usually mentally unstable, male and age 18-24. They feel unloved and are quiet and withdrawn. These people are sick of being ignored.
What happens after one of these shootings? Blanket news coverage across every type of media. Everybody knows who this person is now, and they got the attention they so desperately were seeking.
Our media is partially at blame for these incidents, as they saturate the airwaves, the Internet and print with news and information about this individual and it only emboldens future shooters to do the same. Taking away guns does not solve this issue -- the same attention-seekers will use other methods to achieve the same result.
Remove the national spotlight and you remove much of the incentive for at least some of these mass shooters.
Right on, I think that would help. Anonymize the shooters, grieve/honor the victims.
What a trivialization, Mr Martinez! What culture? A culture of shooting innocent kindergarten kids? isn't it time we make a concerted effort to change this "culture" ?
What a trivialization, Mr Martinez! What culture? A culture of shooting innocent kindergarten kids? isn't it time we make a concerted effort to change this "culture" ?
We're not going to make any progress in this country by demonizing an entire population based off a few wackos.
We don't condemn all Muslims based on the actions of a few nutjobs, why is condemnation ok for all gun owners?
If someone is reasonable about more gun control, prove it. Show what laws you would loosen, not just which extra laws you'd pile on. Reasonable is give-and-take, not take-and-take.
What a trivialization, Mr Martinez! What culture? A culture of shooting innocent kindergarten kids? isn't it time we make a concerted effort to change this "culture" ?
A culture of I don't give a crap....welcome to America....
Seriously?? A total of 5 people died in "all" (actually 2) the mass shootings in Australia since 96. Your etc doesn't show up anything. Not sure if these can be considered indiscriminate rampage shootings at all. And how many people have died in such shootings in the US?
As the previous poster has shown, the arguments of gun rights activists here hold no water. Germany, UK, France, Australia etc etc etc show that it's not just a mental health issue. The US is "exceptional" indeed.
This poster also ignores the 13 mass shootings in the 18 years preceding 1996.
Hectorville, was a schizophrenic, who should never have been able to get access to a gun, Monash Uni, was not a mass murder, and I'm not sure what the mass bombing is, that poster is referring to. We have a generation that does not know what its like for a person to shoot people, indiscriminately in a public place, and hope it stays that way.
This poster also ignores the 13 mass shootings in the 18 years preceding 1996.
Hectorville, was a schizophrenic, who should never have been able to get access to a gun, Monash Uni, was not a mass murder, and I'm not sure what the mass bombing is, that poster is referring to. We have a generation that does not know what its like for a person to shoot people, indiscriminately in a public place, and hope it stays that way.
When you say "this poster", I assume you're talking about me.
If I roll a ball down a hill, and yell "wahoo!" halfway, that doesn't mean my cheer made it roll the rest of the way.
Now if I yelled "wahoo" and it reversed it's course, that's a correlation. If it picked up speed at the same pitch, that's a correlation. But the statistics don't match, sorry. Wishful thinking to think that the gun ban helped with overall homicides one bit. They just traded one method for another.
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