Analysis of Mass Shootings

[clmayfield]

Pretty interesting stuff. I have looked through a lot of the data and knew that assault rifles were a red herring, but have not really seen mass shooting data:

Crime study: Handguns, not 'assault rifles,' used in most mass shootings | WashingtonExaminer.com

Robert Klein of Time actually did an article a while back in which he was arguing that we should have an assault weapons ban and other gun control measures. He did the research and pointed out that the measures wouldn't help anything and that mass shootings were not on the rise, but he argued that America is just a better place with these measures in place. I am glad that he at least took the time to look at the data and sharing it before completely ignoring it and carrying on with his old opinion.

 

[Maggot]

Good read.

 

[clmayfield]

According to FBI statistics, in 2012, 50% of murders were committed by handguns, while 2.5% of murders were committed by rifles (any kind). Shotguns were 2.3%. 14.5% were unknown firearms, 12.4% were committed with knives, 12.8% were committed with blunt objects (baseball bats, tire irons, etc.), and 5.3% were committed without armaments.

So basically, twice as many people were killed in unarmed combat as were killed with a rifle, and 5 times as many were killed with blunt objects than with rifles of any kind. The assault rifle thing is clearly a red herring. They know they can't go after handguns because the vast majority of people who buy a gun use a handgun for self defense.

In political terms, the assault rifle is the classic "wedge." Semi-autos that look modern scare non-gun owners and many gun owners do not own semi-autos, including hunters. So first, you use your wedge to chop off the hunters and the handgun-only owners from the gun owner camp and put them together with the non-gun owners. They made some headway with this. They like to show hunters who don't believe in using semi-autos in tv commercials... at the end of the day, it is not about solving a problem, it is just moving a little farther down the path.

The people who need to be educated on this are not the liberals... they are not winnable. It is the hunters who are not big gun guys.

I bought my first AR-15 just 6 months ago. I was never in the gun control column, but there are a lot of folks out there who don't own rifles and shotguns, but not semi-autos, who are ambivalent about these rights. They just need to know when people start passing laws that don't solve a problem... they're next.

Prohibition started out this way, by the way. They got the beer people and wine people to go against the liquor people in states and localities. Before long, they got a constitutional amendment banning it all.

 

[High Binder]

Prohibition started out this way, by the way. They got the beer people and wine people to go against the liquor people in states and localities. Before long, they got a constitutional amendment banning it all.

"First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out-- Because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out-- Because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out-- Because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me--and there was no one left to speak for me." - Niemöller

 

[clmayfield]

Oh... and one more fact. Compare some of the states with the least gun control laws to some with the most. Far from an in depth study, but this should give you a feel. I picked California where I used to live, and Illinois, that continues to pass illegal gun control legislation. In the other camp, I chose my home state of Texas and Utah, which was picked by the Brady Campaign (who would know better) as the state with the laxest gun control laws.

% of murders committed with firearms
Strict Gun Control States
CA......69%
IL.......86%
Lenient Gun Control States
TX......65%
UT......59%

 

[pmclaine]

The people who need to be educated on this are not the liberals... they are not winnable. It is the hunters who are not big gun guys.

Ding, ding, ding...win.

I have a coworker that is killing something weekly. When this crap started last year I told him he has to get involved and he was like well they only want the AR's and stuff I dont own any of those. Great guy, great cop on the street able to deal with that level of crime, yet clueless to the nature of man that has lead to the biggest crimes and mass murder in recorded history.