2011 (1)
2016 (1035)
2017 (752)
2018 (978)
2019 (385)
2020 (175)
2021 (235)
2022 (101)
2023 (983)
**If "mental illness" is the reason people kill with guns, according to this graph, Americans are WAY more mentally ill than any other people in the world. Of course, that's NOT true, but trying to tell that to anti-gun control people is predictably futile.
US prevalenz of "mental illness" would be 20times as high as in Australia; data cannot explain everything, a general problem with epidemiology. Looks like there are other reasons for the higher chance to die from a gun shot in the US
Precisely, can it be gun ownership and not mental illness???
There are several reasons: (1) Social exclusion/ghettos => crime/violence; (2) Media-fuelled paranoia (whatever crime and violence there is, is amplified exponentially by the media so that the average citizen lives in a permanent state of fear); (3) Lack of confidence in the government/institutions/rule of law makes people more prone to overreact; (4) Honour culture, specially in the Southern states, makes people more prone to overreact; (5) Law, the notion of legitimate defence and the possession/use of guns is more restrictive in most countries than it is in the USA; (6) Ideology, in the USA many people equate guns = freedom; (7) The winners vs losers ideology leads to high levels of frustration; (8) The lack of a welfare state and the individualism makes that that frustration is not dealt with; (9) War, unlike most countries, the USA is involved in many wars, the killing of innocent people and other war atrocities come with a severe toll in terms of mental health.
Mark Blocker Yeah, but that is a different thing. That has more to do with having too many men with nothing to lose. In other places they just kill themselves discretely. In the USA some prefer to become celebrities in the process, so that everybody can feel their pain. So that they cannot be ignored anymore.
Edelmiro Moman I am strongly inclined to agree with you. The fabled 15 minutes of fame, yeah? To many it would seem more attractive than a life of quiet desperation, or so I assume. The proliferation of violent videogames which offer high scores for antisocial behavior might play a role, too, since they weren't around before most school shootings. Your point #9. above has merit too, while returning veterans so far have played little role in school shootings we Americans do glamorize violence, and popular culture is filled with vigilantes. (edited)
I suspect that these events (e.g. Vegas, Florida) are statistically likely to be committed by 'normal' people (within x standard deviations on the empathy scale, paranoia scale etc ... but maybe at the low/high end, respectively), given the large number of people with easy access to firearms. I expect these events to keep happening.
The key point that Republican politicians are overlooking, on purpose, because they're paid for by the NRA, is that given X person who wants to commit mayhem/murder, they will of course be less effective at murder when they have less access to weapons that enable mass murder. Or, to put it more academically...duh. But how these politicians can watch children/people dying needlessly just to keep the money flowing it...it's beyond evil, if there is such a thing.
I cannot disagree! When evil coincides with money and votes (even circumstantially).... it's a vicious cycle.
Likewise, Bill, attempting to relate simple gun ownership around the world with firearm related homicide portrays an inaccurate picture of cause and supposed effect to pro gun control advocates. Something else is going on. Iceland, high number of guns per capita, low gun crime(or really any crime) rate. Mexico, low incidence of private legitimately acquired firearms, infamously violent society. Etc.
You're off topic. McVeigh was a bomber, not a shooter.
Rolf Dekleer, and his motive? Look it up. Bombs are illegal. Murder is illegal. Yet homicides occur. Not long ago, postal workers in these United States had something of a reputation for gun related violence, which mercifully seems to have subsided. Was this due to preventing said employees from acquiring firearms? Not to my knowledge.
If mental illness is really the reason for all these killings, then the answer is very simple: before you are allowed to buy a gun, you need to have a mental evaluation. Not only that, but you should be re-evaluated every year. That should take care of the problem, shouldn't it?
Paddock(Vegas) would have passed, probably....
You will never get "americans" to give up their guns out of reason. What you can do is to make it very hard for them to keep them. MAndatory mental health exam every year. And by the way, put a very heavy tax on buon bullets!
Adam Gopnik summarizes the arguments against this particular American exceptionalism here: https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/four-truths-about-the-florida-school-shooting
That argument is historically inaccurate. In colonial times private ownership of firearms was a requirement in order to be an effective member of the militia. Public police forces and a standing army did not exist. Legislation passed in those days mandated that every able bodied free male arm and equip himself accordingly. On the naval side, it was common for vessels to be armed, even as merchantmen due to the hazards of piracy and the potential to be pressed into service as privateers in the event of war, operating under "letters of marque and reprisal". Even today all USCG licensed captains over a certain tonnage may serve in a similar capacity. There is no 911 in international waters.
Here's something to consider "Russian bots promote pro-gun messages after Florida school shooting: Source: https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/16/us/russian-bots-florida-shooting-intl/index.html
Ridiculous.
We have a proverb in German that translates to „Opportunity creates thieves“. This might be applicable here as well. Assuming the same level of mental illness, having or not having access to semi-automatic firearms makes all the terrible difference.
Many other countries report stabbings and dearth by motor vehicle. Also, mentally ill includes depression and anxiety, but saying mentally ill makes people think developmental issues.
Someone with an AR15 can to more damage than the same person with a regular gun.
My point is that certain types of firearms should not be accessible by civilians
