Mass Shootings in America: Anatomy of a Hyped Statistic

Real Clear Politics ^ | September 4, 2018 | Carl Cannon

[richardb72]

Three years ago, which means it was before the mass murders at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando and First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs -- but after Sandy Hook Elementary and Fort Hood -- a University of Alabama professor sought to answer a chilling public policy question: Do countries other than the U.S. experience anything approaching America’s mayhem at the hands of shooters who randomly slaughter people in public places?

The researcher’s name is Adam Lankford, and his answer was unequivocal. No, it only happens here, he proclaimed in a much-quoted 2016 academic paper. America, he said, stands alone. From 1966to2012, he documented 90 mass shootings in the United States. In the rest of the world combined – Lankford said he canvassed 171 other nations – there were 202 mass shooters, meaning that the overwhelming number of nations had, on average, one mass killing.

It also meant that the United States, with less than 5 percent of the world’s population, had 31 percent of all the mass shootings.

“This is not a matter of opinion; this is a matter of applying statistical models to data from all these 171 countries,” Lankford said at the time. He explained that he compared national homicide rates, suicide rates, gross domestic product statistics, level of urbanization, and even the balance of men and women in each population. None of these factors proved relevant, he reported, which he said surprised him. Only one variable proved significant, he said: the availability of guns.

“The difference between us and other countries, [which] explains why we have more of these attackers, was the firearm ownership rate,” he said. “In other words: firearms per capita. We have almost double the firearm ownership rate of any other country.”

This conclusion, which is neither counterintuitive nor surprising, was referenced by Obama....

[richardb72]

Gun control advocates lose one of their most important claims. This article is an important read.

[Sasparilla]

Diane Feinstein used the bogus, discredited school shootings totals at the hearing today
But, never forget this. Nothing has changed.

“If I could have gotten 51 votes in the Senate of the United States, for an outright ban picking up every one of them up...Mr. and Mrs. America turn ‘em all in I would have done it. I could not do it. The votes were not there.”
February 5th, 1995. Diane Feinstein on 60 Minutes

[Lurkinanloomin]

Norway still has the most killed by one gunman.

[lepton]

Like Bessailles(sp?), he refused to show his homework.

[Thommas]

..instead of having 31 percent of the world’s mass shootings, the United States has fewer than 3 percent. The key takeaway here is that, with 4.4 percent of the world’s population, the U.S. has less than its share of mass murderers, a finding that utterly undermines the prevailing narrative.

Leave it to the Dems to obfuscate and outright lie about their agenda and supporting "facts."

Although Obama had no hesitation to use bogus data on the National Stage, the all time champion emeritus at made-up stats and resources was Bill Clinton. Having learned in high school and college debate teams that extemporaneous "facts" to support your position could rarely be checked on the fly, WJC won many a debate with studies that rocked the other side's position, only to be discovered after the awards were handed out that his studies were bogus.

[call meVeronica]

Bump for future argument