The FBI collects data on “active shooter incidents,” which it defines as “one or more individuals actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a populated area.” Using the FBI’s definition, 103 people – excluding the shooters – died in such incidents in 2021.
In 2020, the most recent year for which the FBI has published data, handguns were involved in 59% of the 13,620 U.S. gun murders and non-negligent manslaughters for which data is available. Rifles – the category that includes guns sometimes referred to as “assault weapons” – were involved in 3% of firearm murders. Shotguns were involved in 1%. The remainder of gun homicides and non-negligent manslaughters (36%) involved other kinds of firearms or those classified as “type not stated.”
103 deaths in mass shootings vs. 13,620 gun murders means that the odds of you dying in a mass shooting are less then 1%. AR’s and attempts at bans thereof are meaningless feel-good legislation that doesn’t fix anything. They aren’t magic murder guns with homing bullets, they’re just popular guns because they’re perfectly adequate for what they do. Ban them and dudes will just use a different rifle… or multiple handguns.
Completely for gun control, but the needless focus on AR-15’s when all the stats say it’s fucking dumb to do so annoys the shit out of me and reeks of taking advantage of the stupid who say shit like, “Why not shoot them in the arm???”. There are so many FAR better things Dems could push for. Modernize the ATF’s database. Plug gunshow loopholes federally rather then the hodgepodge of states we have now, put extreme risk/domestic violence laws on the books, tackle ghost guns before they become a larger issue. The list goes on, and on, and on.
Okay? That doesn’t change the numbers though.
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/04/26/what-the-data-says-about-gun-deaths-in-the-u-s/
103 deaths in mass shootings vs. 13,620 gun murders means that the odds of you dying in a mass shooting are less then 1%. AR’s and attempts at bans thereof are meaningless feel-good legislation that doesn’t fix anything. They aren’t magic murder guns with homing bullets, they’re just popular guns because they’re perfectly adequate for what they do. Ban them and dudes will just use a different rifle… or multiple handguns.
Completely for gun control, but the needless focus on AR-15’s when all the stats say it’s fucking dumb to do so annoys the shit out of me and reeks of taking advantage of the stupid who say shit like, “Why not shoot them in the arm???”. There are so many FAR better things Dems could push for. Modernize the ATF’s database. Plug gunshow loopholes federally rather then the hodgepodge of states we have now, put extreme risk/domestic violence laws on the books, tackle ghost guns before they become a larger issue. The list goes on, and on, and on.
Thank you. Agreed.