Posted by: chupacabra
You have a point Syncro, although there are 9 unclear ones that could bump those numbers up. According to the NYT they have mainly covered the mass shooting where the perp was a lone white male so I will lay the blame on them. The mass killing at the nightclub in Orlando and Virginia Tech were 2 of the worst as far as deaths are concerned and neither were white, so there is that as well.
OK, so can we at least agree that it almost all men. Looking at the stats for mass shootings with over 10 dead it is also clear that the use of semi-auto rifles is also on the rise.
I would guess that what skews our perception is that the highly publicized shootings at work/school/business locations are primarily white males. So in that context you are correct. What's not getting the same airplay are gang/urban related shootings where the perpetrator is less likely to be white - shootings in Chicago come to mind.
The gun lobby has a valid point when they say that responsible gun owners aren't the ones committing these killings. In light of that, there are two separate types of "mass shootings" going on and they both have very different reasons. It seems that the "white guy" shootings are committed by someone who has some sort of mental issue/grievance going on and has obtained a gun legally and the urban/gang types of shooting are crime related and most likely committed with illegally obtained guns.
I think in both instances tighter firearm regulations that are federally mandated will make a difference as having state control over gun laws is like having peeing and no peeing sections in a pool. As for the mental health aspect, that's a harder thing to tackle and for sure the darker side of gun culture, vigilantism and payback figure into that prominently. There are so many guns floating around in the US and highly disparate attitudes that it will take decades, if ever, for this problem to be sorted out. I think they've passed the point of no return on the gun issue and it will take some sort of catastrophic event to get things under some sort of control.
Last edited by: syncro on March 24, 2021, 7:13 p.m., edited 1 time in total.