Mother JonesWeapons: Of the 143 guns possessed by the killers, more than three quarters were obtained legally. The arsenal included dozens of assault weapons and semi-automatic handguns with high-capacity magazines. (See charts below.) Just as Jeffrey Weise used a .40-caliber Glock to slaughter students in Red Lake, Minnesota, in 2005, so too did James Holmes, along with an AR-15 assault rifle, when blasting away at his victims in a darkened movie theater. In Newtown, Connecticut, Adam Lanza wielded a.223 Bushmaster semi-automatic assault rifle as he massacred 20 school children and six adults.
Here's the full chart, which also shows numerous shootings that are not in gun-free zones.
One has to wonder if this high a percentage of mass shootings is done by lawful gun owners, how does that translate into all the other gun violence?
What do you think? Please leave a comment.
They're counting Newtown as "legally obtained"?
ReplyDeleteYeah, I noticed that too. I guess it's debatable since he was a legal occupant of the home and of age.
DeleteBut, remove him if you must and the percentage is still telling.
I'm sure there are others who stole their guns from friends or family. The Chardon shooter comes to mind.
DeleteWhat's telling is how they make background checks a core issue regarding spree shooters when most of them have or would have passed a background check.
What's telling to me is how your side makes gun free zones an issue in spree shootings.
DeleteThe correlation on that side is strong as well, if not stronger. Does that correlation prove something too?
DeleteGun-free zones tell law-abiding citizens to disarm, while doing nothing to stop people who have ill intent. Why would someone intent on committing a Class A felony be deterred by the addition of a misdemeanor?
DeleteThe sticking point here, as always, is that you have no means of removing the handful of crazies without also disarming lots of good people who will never do anything wrong.
ReplyDeleteMikeb, just admit it. You don't care about liberty. You yearn for safety provided to you from on high.
The point is it's not "a handful."
DeleteIf we're talking about mass shootings, the ones responsible are a tiny fraction of the small fraction of gun owners who go wrong.
DeleteTed (Greg) Nuegent. And you care little for life. Let ten's of thousands die so you can get off with your guns. Do you masturbate with your guns? Why this obsession and love affair with guns? Legal, or not you have an unhealthy obsession with guns. You should get counseling for that unhealthy obsession, like getting help for any unhealthy obsession. Now back to you and your buddies making jokes about dead 6 year boys.
ReplyDeleteI think you have an unhealthy obsession with Greg.
DeleteAnonymous, would you point me to the joke you keep referring to about the dead 6-year-old.
DeleteYour answer is on the Arkansas post
DeleteThis Anonymous reminds me of Democommie. Same rage, new sockpuppet.
DeleteThis Ted (Greg) Nugent reminds me of a psychopath who kills because he does not care about life. Lets hear more of your death jokes.
DeleteMike, it's best to just ignore his references for the most part. He'll eventually get bored and run away.
DeleteSorry, T. You may have seen the barrage of foul bullshit I just deleted. Back to moderation for a while.
DeleteMy only challenge was keeping the Anonymouses? Anonymice? Anonymi? straight. Need to put shirts on them like Thing number one and two.
DeleteMike,
DeleteNo need for you to apologize. You didn't write the stuff, you're not responsible for it. I only saw part of it and I actually found it rather entertaining, if very sad, that this guy was so unhinged that he thought that such behavior was helpful to his side or the behavior of rational adults.
If you want to do the moderation thing for a while, so be it, but if they concern is that you don't want people seeing Kevin's posts before you delete some of the more foul ones, I'll just say that for my part, I don't care if folks see him accusing me of everything he can think of for a short time between posting and deletion. Frankly, I've heard better imitations of Catullus at Scout Camp.
But, but... I thought killers only got them off the street... oh, wait, that's legal in a private sale without a background check in most states. My bad.
ReplyDeleteThis totally blows out of the water the mythical "good guys with guns" and "gun-free zones" nonsense spouted by the NRA.
I've never said that all mass shootings happen in gun-free zones. What I and others have said repeatedly is that a gun-free zone creates a hunting license for crazies. I've yet to see you address that.
DeleteWe are addressing it. Crazy people don't give a fuck about gun free zones. They go to the place of their grievance or where that little voice in their head tells them.
DeleteDon't tell me that you're addressing my point and then fail to address my point. I said that gun-free zones disarm the good guys. Try again.
DeleteYou mean good guys like the ones who commit three-quarters of all mass shootings?
DeleteI know you'll never admit it, but the fewer guns there are the better off we are. That's the advantage of gun free zones.
Statements like that are why we don't buy that you just want to disarm 50% of us. After all, if fewer guns is better, then that will be true once you've reduced the number by half.
DeleteMikeb, you still don't get it. A wannabe spree killer plans out the attack in advance and comes armed. No sign on the door will stop that. What gun-free zones do is disarm those who aren't plotting mass murder.
DeleteBaldr,
ReplyDeleteWhat this article shows is that prior to their committing their individual crimes, most were not disqualified from owning firearms. When you start infringing rights because an individual MIGHT commit a crime you start down a slippery slope. Because when you can justify doing it in the area of gun rights, it isn't much of a stretch to move on to other rights.
I understand that you consider the second amendment to be needless, and you're entitled to your opinion, but what happens when they pick a right you hold more near and dear?
When safety is concerned, I doubt any gun control freak holds any right near and dear.
Delete