Fact Checking
Okay, this bugged me. Watching last week's episode of Real Time with Bill Maher, one of the guests (S.E. Cupp) said that mass shootings were down over the last thirty years. She called it an 'inconvenient truth' and aimed the comment at Michael Moore. It was a rather off-handed comment and Maher went to New Rules right after it.
But it stuck out. It seemed so incongruous with the news over the last year that I picked up the computer and did some checking. All I did was Google 'mass shootings' and the first site that came up was the Citizens Crime Commission of New York City. There's a great deal of information and their disclaimer seems honest. So I dug down into those figures and came up with a list of stuff that I think I should share here.
It's worth going through the information for yourself to draw your own conclusions. The way I see it, mass shootings were less deadly when the assault weapons ban was in place.
Numbers can be massaged to show anything, we all know that. My take here is that mass shootings are NOT down in the ten years on either side of the assault weapons ban. Ms. Cupp's assertion to the contrary, since the end of the ban, mass shootings appear to be up.
Here are the numbers I pulled out of the website. I urge you to do your own research.
Mass shootings since 1984…
1984 – 2 shootings – 28 dead1989 – 2 shootings – 15 dead1990 – 1 shooting – 10 dead1991 – 1 shooting – 24 dead1993 – 2 shootings – 15 dead1994 – 1 shooting – 6 dead1997 – 1 shooting – 5 dead1998 – 3 shootings – 14 dead1999 – 3 shootings – 30 dead2000 – 1 shooting – 7 dead2004 – 1 shooting – 6 dead2007 – 2 shootings – 42 dead2008 – 1 shooting – 5 dead2009 – 2 shootings – 27 dead2010 – 1 shooting – 10 dead2011 – 3 shootings – 19 dead2012 – 3 shootings – 47 dead
total 30 shootings – 300 dead
1984 – 1990: 5 shootings – 53 dead / 10.6 dead per shooting1991 – 2000: 12 shootings – 101 dead / 8.4 dead per shooting2001 – 2010: 7 shootings – 90 dead / 12.6 dead per shooting2011 – present: 6 shootings – 66 dead / 11 dead per shooting
1984 – 1994: 9 shootings – 108 dead / 12 dead per shooting1994 – 2004: 8 shootings – 56 dead / 7 dead per shooting(assault weapons ban in effect 9/1994 to 9/2004)2004 – present: 13 shootings – 156 dead / 12 dead per shooting
source: http://www.nycrimecommission.org/initiative1-shootings.php
CONCLUSIONS:
· At least one shooting per year from 1997 – 2000 (4 years)· At least one mass shooting every year since 2007. (6 years)· Longest time between shootings: 53 months· 1990s as a decade had most shootings, but fewest killed per shooting· With the assault weapons ban in effect fewer people per shooting were killed than without it in effect.
But it stuck out. It seemed so incongruous with the news over the last year that I picked up the computer and did some checking. All I did was Google 'mass shootings' and the first site that came up was the Citizens Crime Commission of New York City. There's a great deal of information and their disclaimer seems honest. So I dug down into those figures and came up with a list of stuff that I think I should share here.
It's worth going through the information for yourself to draw your own conclusions. The way I see it, mass shootings were less deadly when the assault weapons ban was in place.
Numbers can be massaged to show anything, we all know that. My take here is that mass shootings are NOT down in the ten years on either side of the assault weapons ban. Ms. Cupp's assertion to the contrary, since the end of the ban, mass shootings appear to be up.
Here are the numbers I pulled out of the website. I urge you to do your own research.
Mass shootings since 1984…
1984 – 2 shootings – 28 dead1989 – 2 shootings – 15 dead1990 – 1 shooting – 10 dead1991 – 1 shooting – 24 dead1993 – 2 shootings – 15 dead1994 – 1 shooting – 6 dead1997 – 1 shooting – 5 dead1998 – 3 shootings – 14 dead1999 – 3 shootings – 30 dead2000 – 1 shooting – 7 dead2004 – 1 shooting – 6 dead2007 – 2 shootings – 42 dead2008 – 1 shooting – 5 dead2009 – 2 shootings – 27 dead2010 – 1 shooting – 10 dead2011 – 3 shootings – 19 dead2012 – 3 shootings – 47 dead
total 30 shootings – 300 dead
1984 – 1990: 5 shootings – 53 dead / 10.6 dead per shooting1991 – 2000: 12 shootings – 101 dead / 8.4 dead per shooting2001 – 2010: 7 shootings – 90 dead / 12.6 dead per shooting2011 – present: 6 shootings – 66 dead / 11 dead per shooting
1984 – 1994: 9 shootings – 108 dead / 12 dead per shooting1994 – 2004: 8 shootings – 56 dead / 7 dead per shooting(assault weapons ban in effect 9/1994 to 9/2004)2004 – present: 13 shootings – 156 dead / 12 dead per shooting
source: http://www.nycrimecommission.org/initiative1-shootings.php
CONCLUSIONS:
· At least one shooting per year from 1997 – 2000 (4 years)· At least one mass shooting every year since 2007. (6 years)· Longest time between shootings: 53 months· 1990s as a decade had most shootings, but fewest killed per shooting· With the assault weapons ban in effect fewer people per shooting were killed than without it in effect.
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