251 Mass Shootings Are No Reason To Panic - And Response

  • Wednesday, August 7, 2019

Every day since the El Paso shootings ABC news has repeatedly referenced the story that there have been 251 mass shootings this year in the USA.  That report comes from the Mass Shooting Tracker project. Their definition of a mass shooting is any incident in which four or more victims are shot. So, I implore you to look for yourself at the 251 mass shootings to decide for yourself if this should be the focus of so much attention relating to gun control. 

In most of the 251 incidents, nobody was killed. Many of the mass shootings were domestic  violence cases where family members shot each other, some ending in suicide. Most of the mass shootings involved people who knew their victims. Most of the shootings were carried out using handguns. Most of the shootings were gang related black on black inner city shootings where retaliation was the motive. Almost none of the shootings were done as a hate crime because of race or national origin. White supremacy had nothing to do with 98 percent of the shootings.

Some facts from the list of 251 of 2019:
Chicago had 22 mass shootings, 10 deaths, 100 wounded
Baltimore had nine mass shootings, five killed, 37 wounded
Washington DC had six mass shootings, one killed, 25 wounded
Atlanta had five mass shootings, one killed, 27 wounded

These mass shootings weren't mentioned in the national news because it was business as usual in those cities.

The media is portraying Trump as the reason for so many mass shootings because of his immigration stance. 

But another startling revelation of the same Mass Shooting Tracker Project is that in 2013 the mass shootings stood at 504 by the end of that year.  President Obama wasn't blamed for those shootings, even though they will exceed the total for 2019.  The fact of the matter is that neither president contributed to the mass shootings. Nor could either men do much about the shootings. 

The focus of "mass shootings" should be the true mass shootings such as Dayton, where the shooter was known to be mentally disturbed at least a year before he killed those victims, including his own sister. Also the El Paso shootings, which was a hate crime. Focus on Sandy Hook from seven years ago where the shooter killed his mother before shooting the children at school. Only mentally ill people kill their mother.

Any killing is tragic. But using the 251 mass killings this year as an example of how violent we have become is a misuse of that data.  The fear mongering by ABC news has people trampling others on the sidewalks of New York when a motorcycle backfired yesterday. In a country of 360,000,000 people there were four mass shootings this year. The probability of a white supremist with a machine gun walking into your local shopping mall is almost zero. The probability of a mentally disturbed family member shooting you with a handgun is much higher.

Don't take everything you hear on the news at face value. Read up on the information for yourself. 

Harry Presley

* * *

Harry, America once basically said the same thing about lynch mobs and lynchings. "What's a lynching here and there from time to time? They're just blowing steam. They'll cool their heels after a while." That's sarcasm, of course. 

Look at all the people those 251 mass shootings have impacted. The families of the victims wounded and killed. The survivors at the scene who survive and watched as friends, strangers, and children were gunned down before their eyes. The first responders,  EMTs, police etc. rushing to the scene. The emergency room doctors, nurses and others did their best to patch up the victims, and in defeat had to watch as others died before their eyes as they tried to save them. Consider the emotional and psychological toll and impact of it all. 

In the recent Texas massacre, the young soccer players who watched as their soccer coach was killed before their very eyes as they were trying to raise money for their soccer team. The father who died trying to protect his wife and infant child. The mother and wife of that infant child who was also shot and would later die. The 91 year old husband and his 86 year old wife. The wife died immediately or soon after the shooting I believe, the husband died a day ago. 

Then the tragedy compounded by senseless indifferent remarks by people like you who seemingly seemingly consider it no big deal. The most dangerous emotion of all is the emotion of indifference. 

In his lifetime, Eliezer Wiesel once said, "The opposite of love isn't hate, it's indifference. Indifference, to me, is the epitome of evil." In a world where everyone becomes indifferent evil will win and become the norm. 

Hopefully, moral, humane minds will pool their resources and never again allow the world to get to such a point that most everyone becomes indifferent to tragedies and human suffering. 

Think about the hurt your words bring to those who knew someone or have relatives in or nearby these mass shootings who may have known some of the victims, if only during a brief encounter. Think about if they were someone you personally knew or was related to.
 
Brenda Washington


Opinion
Democratic View On Top State Senate Issues - March 28, 2024
  • 3/28/2024

Constitutional amendment would ban state taxes on property. Who would benefit? 8:30 a.m. Senate Regular Calendar — HJR 0081 would amend the Tennessee Constitution to prohibit the legislature ... more

Democratic View On Top State Senate Issues - March 27, 2024
  • 3/27/2024

Gov. Lee reveals $797M of new spending, but withholds funding for legislature’s voucher proposals View the Lee Administration’s Budget Amendment — The Lee Administration made its last revisions ... more

UTC: Cradle Of Coaches
  • 3/27/2024

Given recent events, the UTC Athletic Department should put up a billboard or start a marketing campaign with the following message: "UTC: Cradle of Coaches" Michelle Rogers more