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Theohazard · October 15, 2017, 07:04 PM

If a person's true goal is to lower the amount of gun deaths in this country, then starting by addressing the issue of mass shootings doesn't make sense. An article from FiveThirtyEight has this telling line:

"If we focus on mass shootings as a means of understanding how to reduce the number of people killed by guns in this country, we’re likely to implement laws that don’t do what we want them to do — and miss opportunities to make changes that really work."

Mass Shootings Are A Bad Way To Understand Gun Violence

And here's a Washington Post article by a journalist who changed her mind on gun control once she started to actually study the issue:

I Used to Think Gun Control was the Answer. My Research Told Me Otherwise.

The OP brought up Australia. Here's that author's take on that subject:

"I researched the strictly tightened gun laws in Britain and Australia and concluded that they didn’t prove much about what America’s policy should be. Neither nation experienced drops in mass shootings or other gun related-crime that could be attributed to their buybacks and bans. Mass shootings were too rare in Australia for their absence after the buyback program to be clear evidence of progress. And in both Australia and Britain, the gun restrictions had an ambiguous effect on other gun-related crimes or deaths."

October 15, 2017, 07:04 PM	#17
Theohazard Senior Member Join Date: April 19, 2012 Location: Western PA Posts: 3,829	If a person's true goal is to lower the amount of gun deaths in this country, then starting by addressing the issue of mass shootings doesn't make sense. An article from FiveThirtyEight has this telling line: "If we focus on mass shootings as a means of understanding how to reduce the number of people killed by guns in this country, we’re likely to implement laws that don’t do what we want them to do — and miss opportunities to make changes that really work." Mass Shootings Are A Bad Way To Understand Gun Violence And here's a Washington Post article by a journalist who changed her mind on gun control once she started to actually study the issue: I Used to Think Gun Control was the Answer. My Research Told Me Otherwise. The OP brought up Australia. Here's that author's take on that subject: "I researched the strictly tightened gun laws in Britain and Australia and concluded that they didn’t prove much about what America’s policy should be. Neither nation experienced drops in mass shootings or other gun related-crime that could be attributed to their buybacks and bans. Mass shootings were too rare in Australia for their absence after the buyback program to be clear evidence of progress. And in both Australia and Britain, the gun restrictions had an ambiguous effect on other gun-related crimes or deaths." __________________ 0331: "Accuracy by volume." Last edited by Theohazard; October 15, 2017 at 07:22 PM.