Number of U.S. mass shootings on the rise
By Melissa Healy, Los Angeles Times
If it seems like mass shootings are becoming more common, researchers say there’s a good reason: They are.
Between a 2011 shooting at an IHOP restaurant in Carson City that left four people dead and the 2013 attack on the Washington Navy Yard where 12 people were killed, a mass shooting occurred somewhere in America once every 64 days, on average.
In the preceding 29 years, such shootings occurred on average every 200 days, according to an analysis by researchers from Harvard University’s School of Public Health and Northeastern University.
The study defined a mass shooting as an outbreak of firearms violence in which four or more victims were killed and the shooter was unknown to most of his victims.
So?
So? Really? I suggest you tell that to the Families and friends in the Sandy Hook massacre or any of a number of victims of this kind of violence. We have a lot going for us in America, but weapons and the violence associated with them is appalling to most of the World.
Thirty thousand (30,000) weapon related deaths and Eighty thousand (80,000) related injuries are nothing to brag about or take lightly.
Also, the article does not even mention the direct monetary costs for the victims and survivors, which is also appalling.
While it is popular and easy to blame guns, where is the article about the increase in crazy people?
SC. “Increase in crazy people?” I will attempt to address this.
Today, we have a population of 320 million. Some research indicates that 18 – 25% of Americans have some sort of “mental” disorder. Mental disorder can be anything from Mood disorder to Alzheimer’s. Of these, about 1-2% are Schizophrenic and 9-10% are Depressive/Bipolar.
In 1780 the Population was about 2.9 million and I am sure they had “crazy people” in those days too.
However. In 1780 a rifle could get of perhaps 2 rounds per minute; today we measure rounds per second.
So, how do we keep semi-automatic weapons with large capacity clips out of the hands of Mentally Ill Americans?
Also. We have smart phones and automobiles yet the Weapons industry seems stuck in the previous Century as far as safety improvements are concerned.
Rock…you missed the muffled sobs and the culture weariness in my ironic, sarcastic comment. My views on weapons ownership, on mental health issues, on media saturation of glorified violence and the feigned outrage followed by the ‘well, what are ya gonna do, people have a right to have guns’ cop out comments that stops mature conversation about these issues that occurs when these things happen are rather well known. You should know ‘me’ better.
320 million people, a melting pot or a sampling of every culture. We put up with terrorism of our people as to not offend someone’s culture or religion. We protect the mentally ills rap sheet because those events are protected by Hippa. Do you know a child dies in an unattended vehicle because of heat every nine days, outlaw global warming…
SCTahoe, I have no way of knowing if there’s been an increase in crazy people, but anyone spending a little time cruising the internet, particularly forums and reader comments on media sites – the S F Chronicle comes immediately to mind – knows that a huge number of true crazies have not just made their presence known but have been empowered and recognized for comments and opinions that, in another era, they would have been sharing instead with (hopefully) their therapists or their teddy bears or their reflections in a mirror.
That some of these folks are arming themselves is practically a given and likely an incentive for the “normal” to arm themselves as well.
government brain washed assassin’s ?
you think that only happens in the movies ?
nobody wants to talk about the police who kill people all the time.
What does that mean, ” the police kill people all the time.” The police are not a rouge regime, they are peace officers hired to keep peace and the safety of citizens. They have a mission to uphold the law, investigate crime and insure the safety of the public. They have a personal mission to their own safety and to come home at the end of shift to their families. If you are shot by the police, who were called to investigate, assist or enforce you have to ask yourself what set of circumstances did I create to put myself in this situation. Did I yield to authority to diffuse the situation, probably not. We are so lucky to live in a free country, appreciate it or leave.
‘Look at this’…I have seen many video’s recently of ‘peace officers’ using excessive force. Perhaps we are closer to the ‘rouge regime’ than you want to believe.
On a related note, I just read a headline that Rick ‘Oops” Perry proposed people should take their guns to the movie theater…and I’m guessing through inference everywhere else. Please tell us how THAT’S gonna play out.
Someone mentioned the cost of gun violence in terms of victims and families. Go online or to the library and read the May/June issue of Mother Jones magazine.
The main story is: The True Cost of Gun Violence (data the NRA doesn’t want you to see). Its both heartbreaking and alarming.
Hmmm I agree once in awhile a bad video comes out and that cop is convicted punished and imprisoned. But in all reality it is few and far between. Most jobs when you make a mistake you can just fix it, a cop has a lot of emotions, adrenalin and fight in those tense do or die situations. It takes a whole lot of guts to do the job and I am thankful to the cop on the beat keeping the good folks safe.
Look at this-
There is something working here that needs to be fixed.
While I agree that being a cop is a stressful job, there seem to be a percentage of cops who are power freaks, and all too willing to pop multiple shots into the back of a guy running from a routine traffic stop, or to to beat the living crap out of a mentally disturbed woman whose “crime” was being on foot on a freeway.
I have my own story of cop abuse, and I am a professional, who actually did what I was asked to do, and still wound up with minor injuries FROM A TRAFFIC STOP. In South Lake Tahoe.
Even one of these incidents is too many.
We need much more thorough psychological screening before cops are armed and let into the system.
Hmmm. I did NOT pick up on that with the “So?” comment.
Speaking of “cop out comments.”
Look. America has always been a melting pot.
Yes, the First Amendment says “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”
President Obama issued an Executive order in January 2014 to make it easier for States to update data regarding mental health issues to the Federal background check system.
Children being left in automobiles is another public safety issue, and is not part of the topic of Mass Shootings in the USA. Since you brought it up, there are about 10,000 gun related injuries and deaths of young people in America each year or 28 per day; for reference.
If that Perry is me who proposed taking guns to shows, where did I state that?
Mass shootings. I live by a person who yelled at me he was taking a gun to the city offices as he was cited by the city for having too much junk in his yard.
Another time he said he was going to build a turret on his roof”to defend his property” shoud he be evicted for not paying his house payments, property taxes or income tax.
His house is going thru foreclosure so hopefully there is no gunfire and everthing ends peacefully.
My neighbors tell me not worry as he’s “just blowing off a little steam”. I hope that’s the case. OLS
Look at it this way,
According to FreePress.org, this country doesn’t even rank in the top 25% of most free press countries on the planet.
I thought there were 9 people who died at Ihop. A dear family friend of ours was one of them. The one thing that all of these mass shootings have in common is NOT that a firearm was used, it is that every single person had some level of mental health issues.
Perry O’…I was referring to Rick Perry, the Tejas politician. I hope that’s not you.
Lol, had me going there.
So cranky, if its your suggestion that police officers need thorough screening for mental health issues before allowed onto the streets with guns to protect the public and to help enforce the laws of the land, why doesn’t every single person who wants to purchase or obtain a gun have to go through the same level of scrutiny? Quite personally, I think anyone who wants a gun needs to supply DNA, mental health, post a bond so society wont have to pay for the stoopid mistakes made when they leave their precious gun unattended and Jr. Finds it and shoots mom accidentally.
guns suck, enough said…