We have several every single year. Even adjusting for population differences, the numbers are ** not even close **.
“Below are a few. There are others but I think the point is made that shootings can happen in any country regardless of their gun laws. It even happens in countries not nearly as diverse as the USA and not nearly as populous as the USA.”
Do they happen with the same frequency as in the U.S.? Do they happen with 50% of the frequency as in the U.S.? Do they happen at the frequency of 25%?
Do these countries have numbers at all close to anything approaching what we have in the U.S.?
Oooh, one in each country. Seriously??? I mean, seriously???
And in Scotland as a result of that massacre:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/17/world/europe/dunblane-lessons/
In Finland:
https://aoav.org.uk/2014/kauhajoki-2008/
Like I said, Europeans are capable of learning.
Germany’s gun laws were already strict in 2009, which proves that there is nothing that will prevent 100% of these deaths. That’s another straw man which gun nuts like to erect after every massacre: We can’t prevent ALL shootings, therefore we must do nothing to prevent ANY shootings, which is a ridiculous argument on its face. However, there was accountability for that one:
Why the sarcastic tone? I simply posted some evidence that similar shootings ‘do’ happen in other countries whereas one poster on this thread indicated they did not. Obviously that poster was wrong. I also stated these re just a few examples - there are obviously other examples. If you care about that area you can find the cases yourself - it’s not that hard.
I’m not trying to imply that the frequency is the same in other countries as the USA - just stating some facts that some posters here don’t seem to be aware of. One also needs to consider populations in some of those countries which are much smaller than the population in the USA. Comparing the USA to one other country, ex: Holland, or Norway, or Switzerland, isn’t a direct comparison due to population differences.
Almost no one is denying that they happen in other countries. What we’re saying is that yes, they happen, but on the RARE occasion that they happen there is a response and there is outrage. Oh yeah, and they’re RARE.
Oh, come on. You would have to live under a rock to not hear about some of these. It is the daily drumbeat here that is different. This is just the usual attempt to distract from the issue that we have become a society where you can’t go to an elementary school, middle school, high school, college, movie theater, church, mall, government building, or generally out in public without the possibility of being shot.
intparent’s daily drumbeat:
@GladGradDad Could you please find me a similar headline from any other developed country?
Oh please, everyone is aware that isolated incidents happen in countries with very strict gun laws. But the reality in those countries is these are extremely rare events and always followed by enacting even stricter gun controls laws. OTOH, here they are a common occurrence and we do absolutely nothing to change a thing.
We are a nation populated with millions of people who worship guns. We are sick.
Sarcasm used because astounded disbelief and head explosion hurts more.
I just saw an old post by the sheriff in Roseburg in which he included a video claiming that Sandy Hook never really happened, and was just a false story put up by the president in order to ban guns. I wonder if he believes the Oregon UCC shooting was real or if the 9 murder victims were somehow a creation of the federal government. I want him to face a grieving mom in the morgue and tell her that her child is just a hoax by the feds. People like this are unbelievable.
I won’t but if you’re interested in this area you can easily find them yourself - just Google something like “mass shooting Switzerland” or whatever country you’re interested in.
I simply replied with some facts that were counter to the earlier poster’s statement regarding similar shootings not happening in other countries. I see now that you were the one who posted that. ‘Disbelief’ of what - whether what I posted is true or not or or that someone would post that what you stated is not true?
Someone upthread had it right: To the only people who seem to matter (the NRA, its bought-and-paid-for legislators, and gun worshippers), the shameful body count in this country, while perhaps regrettable, is a necessary price which has to be paid for universal gun access. An acceptable price. Therefore, this isn’t a problem which needs to be solved. Little matter that a large majority of Americans – even a large majority of gun owners – think something needs to be done. Heck, even Antonin Scalia doesn’t believe that the Second Amendment prohibits regulation of guns. But hey, as long as the NRA is happy, that’s what counts. And unfortunately, I don’t see how this will change any time in the foreseeable future.
@GladGradDad So just to be clear, are you saying that our gun problem doesn’t need to be addressed?
While Swiss military reservists have their military weapons at home, they don’t have the ammunition with them at home. And there are severe penalties for misusing those weapons.
“do states which have stricter gun laws have fewer MASS SHOOTING deaths?”
That is an interesting question, and the answer seems to be yes. Sandy Hook happened in connecticut, which has relatively strict gun laws, and were legally purchased weapons, so there is one case where it fails (on the other hand, had the assault weapons laws not been allowed to expire, Adam Lanza would not have had access to the AR15, he would have been limited to handguns, which meant it is likely that a lot less people would have died there, she bought that weapon after the original assault weapons ban expired)
On the other hand, most of the shootings seem to be in areas where gun control laws are more lax, Virginia Tech shooting, Columbia, SC, Aurora, Colorado, Columbine, the schoolhouse shooting in Arkansas several years ago, they tend to be centered in areas where gun ownership is a lot more easy and common. http://www.gannett-cdn.com/GDContent/mass-killings/index.html#explore is a link to a section of a USA today piece on mass shootings, that has some interesting facts.
-According to this list, most of the killings that were done with guns have happened in places where gun laws are relatively lax, states like California, Texas, SC, Ohio, the Dakotas and so forth, where guns were the method of killing (and most were, there were a few cases of Arson glancing at the list, other causes).
-The figures given are from the FBI, and one slide said that perhaps only 57% of crimes are reported, that mass shootings and such may not even be reported
-The crimes are overwhelmingly done by men, 94% are men
-Of shootings, 73% were handguns
-Guns were the largest cause of death with mass shootings, much larger than any other category, a lot more then stabbings by a large amount
-Failures in the safety net were also to blame, that many of these may have been preventable
-By far, killing of family members and people the suspect knew are the large majority of cases, shooting strangers is relatively rare.
Reading this ,there is an argument to be made about access to guns and gun homicide, and also that we need to do a better job of preventing these with safety nets and such, that gun control alone nor better mental health treatment and such will solve this.
Better statistics would help make the case – unshackle the CDC as a starting point.
There are some studies which show countries with the highest number of gun owners have the most mass shootings - Ssitzerland included.
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/08/united-states-world-mass-shooters
I think the one constant is the more gun owners In a country the more mass shootings take place in that country. But we are the still winner in that category. Hurrah for us!!!
@GMTplus7: Sylvia Seegrist, Springfield, PA, 1985:
http://www.nytimes.com/1985/10/31/us/2-killed-in-shopping-mall-as-woman-fires-on-crowd.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvia_Seegrist
That mall was 10 minutes from my childhood home, and Seegrist had a history of paranoid schizophrenia.
Two…