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37 Years of Mass Shootings in the U.S. in One Chart

Old 'N Chill

Old 'N Chill

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Good overview of mass shootings in the United States, showing deaths and injuries.

37 Years of Mass Shootings in the U.S. in One Chart

A database of mass shootings compiled by Mother Jones going back to 1982 counts 114 such incidents in which at least three people were killed, not including the gunman. In that time, 932 people have been killed and 1,406 wounded, including the numbers from the El Paso and Dayton incidents. The following chart visualizes each mass shooting in terms of deaths and injuries. TIME has examined each incident and slightly adjusted some values as the death toll and number of injured has been clarified over time.
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Mass Shootings in the US: See 37 Years in One Chart | Time
 
Old 'N Chill said:
Good overview of mass shootings in the United States, showing deaths and injuries.

Mass Shootings in the US: See 37 Years in One Chart | Time
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To put that in perspective, in 38 years, that's equal to a little more than one month's worth of deaths caused by speeding, and less than a single year's worth of deaths that have resulted from the eliminating the 55mph national speed limit, two issues that pretty much never get mentioned in the national news or by any political candidate, let alone anyone marching on Washington about them calling them national epidemics or public health crises.
 
Tlrmln said:
To put that in perspective, in 38 years, that's equal to a little more than one month's worth of deaths caused by speeding, and less than a single year's worth of deaths that have resulted from the eliminating the 55mph national speed limit, two issues that pretty much never get mentioned in the national news or by any political candidate, let alone anyone marching on Washington about them calling them national epidemics or public health crises.
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In thirty years, California averages about 5 deaths a year to "mass shootings". Its really sad, but there are so many other things that kill so many more people, that do not get the huge coverage
 
Tlrmln said:
To put that in perspective, in 38 years, that's equal to a little more than one month's worth of deaths caused by speeding, and less than a single year's worth of deaths that have resulted from the eliminating the 55mph national speed limit, two issues that pretty much never get mentioned in the national news or by any political candidate, let alone anyone marching on Washington about them calling them national epidemics or public health crises.
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To put that in perspective, it's apples and oranges. Deaths from speeding in a car on the highways is accidental, mass killings by a murderer who is driven by hate, politics, racism, religion, etc. is the deliberate taking of innocent people's lives.
 
Old 'N Chill said:
To put that in perspective, it's apples and oranges. Deaths from speeding in a car on the highways is accidental, mass killings by a murderer who is driven by hate, politics, racism, religion, etc. is the deliberate taking of innocent people's lives.
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The victims are just as dead, except that when it comes to people driving too fast, there's a hell of a lot more of them.

But you're right, they are different, in the sense that accidental highway deaths would be a lot easier to prevent with stricter laws because the people who cause those deaths aren't motivated by a desire to hurt people, but rather by self interest, which necessarily includes self-interest in not being severely punished for violating the law. Mass shooters, on the other hand, are specifically looking to kill a lot of people, so they won't let a little gun control law get in their way.
 
Tlrmln said:
The victims are just as dead, except that when it comes to people driving too fast, there's a hell of a lot more of them.

But you're right, they are different, in the sense that accidental highway deaths would be a lot easier to prevent with stricter laws because the people who cause those deaths aren't motivated by a desire to hurt people, but rather by self interest, which necessarily includes self-interest in not being severely punished for violating the law. Mass shooters, on the other hand, are specifically looking to kill a lot of people, so they won't let a little gun control law get in their way.
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can anyone explain why if the almost guaranteed consequence of a murder conviction or being killed by cops or an armed victim-doesn't deter a mass criminal, why a gun control law would?
 
TurtleDude said:
can anyone explain why if the almost guaranteed consequence of a murder conviction or being killed by cops or an armed victim-doesn't deter a mass criminal, why a gun control law would?
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I think they believe that, rather than being a legal deterrent, the laws they want to pass would actually make it physically more difficult for would-be mass murderers to obtain the means of committing mass murder. If only the fine folks of Nice, France were so lucky.
 
Tlrmln said:
I think they believe that, rather than being a legal deterrent, the laws they want to pass would actually make it physically more difficult for would-be mass murderers to obtain the means of committing mass murder. If only the fine folks of Nice, France were so lucky.
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In SW Ohio, the heroin scourge is in full swing. No government agency is issuing heroin to its employees. Hundreds of thousands of cops and soldiers are not given Heroin. It is a felony to sell heroin. Yet more and more people are addicted to or dying from heroin. Prohibition was a failure as well. People who do not study history, are ridiculed by those of us who do
 
Tlrmln said:
But you're right, they are different, in the sense that accidental highway deaths would be a lot easier to prevent with stricter laws because the people who cause those deaths aren't motivated by a desire to hurt people, but rather by self interest, which necessarily includes self-interest in not being severely punished for violating the law.

Mass shooters, on the other hand, are specifically looking to kill a lot of people, so they won't let a little gun control law get in their way.
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The majority of people who die in accidental car crashes aren't motivated to hurt people, which is what I said and agree with you. I disagree that the avoidance of deaths is motivated by self-interest. An accident is an accident, it can be caused by many reasons and speeding is not always a factor. A driver can be very responsible and drive the limit at all times, and die in a car crash that is no fault of their own.

Mass shooters are specifically driven to kill a lot of people. They are driven by racism, politics and hatred of those who believe in a religion other than theirs. I don't think I mentioned anything about gun control laws. Of course someone who is set to hatefully kill will work their way around any new regulations or restrictions.

It's just unfortunate that the United States has had so many mass shootings and has senselessly lost so many innocent lives in the process. We are experiencing home-grown terrorism and far too many people are okay with that as long as the dead are non-white or non-Christian.
 
TurtleDude said:
In thirty years, California averages about 5 deaths a year to "mass shootings". Its really sad, but there are so many other things that kill so many more people, that do not get the huge coverage
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I guess it comes down to indiscriminate murder being a larger, more avoidable, tragedy than an accident. My father was killed in a traffic accident in 1989. It was horrible but he wasn't shot down, in hate, by a stranger. That sort of thing leaves you wondering if something could have been done differently. That's where America is today, wondering what could have been done. Some people think it would be better to ban certain guns, other believe they should be more widely available. Neither makes complete sense but guns, as popular as they are, were designed for killing and cars weren't.

Part of it, too, must be the value of sensational stories to the corporate news media. Once they were established to be, first and foremost, profit driven, it makes sense that the blood-soaked statistics of gun violence make for more interesting tag lines than boring old traffic fatalities. To that degree, we can blame ourselves for letting greed be the foundation for our journalistic infrastructure. We did it to ourselves by making tabloid news mainstream. Because profits are their highest duty, fairness to victims and to the facts is NOT the highest priority.

There's lots of ways to die in America, that's true, but some of them- and the way they're reported- say something about us that others don't. Wouldn't you agree?
 
D_NATURED said:
There's lots of ways to die in America, that's true, but some of them- and the way they're reported- say something about us that others don't. Wouldn't you agree?
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Sure, like in anywhere else. if this mass shooting is staying as it is (and even getting worse) it's not normal, but if there isn't any political will to fix this, it may look like normalizing these sad shootings. People can adapt, buy more guns, more guards, more police force, more all kind of security measures - like it's competition who's most cunning, most powerful and so on... but when it's ending?
 
D_NATURED said:
I guess it comes down to indiscriminate murder being a larger, more avoidable, tragedy than an accident. My father was killed in a traffic accident in 1989. It was horrible but he wasn't shot down, in hate, by a stranger. That sort of thing leaves you wondering if something could have been done differently. That's where America is today, wondering what could have been done. Some people think it would be better to ban certain guns, other believe they should be more widely available. Neither makes complete sense but guns, as popular as they are, were designed for killing and cars weren't.

Part of it, too, must be the value of sensational stories to the corporate news media. Once they were established to be, first and foremost, profit driven, it makes sense that the blood-soaked statistics of gun violence make for more interesting tag lines than boring old traffic fatalities. To that degree, we can blame ourselves for letting greed be the foundation for our journalistic infrastructure. We did it to ourselves by making tabloid news mainstream. Because profits are their highest duty, fairness to victims and to the facts is NOT the highest priority.

There's lots of ways to die in America, that's true, but some of them- and the way they're reported- say something about us that others don't. Wouldn't you agree?
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without arguing your assertion extensively (many guns in America are not intended, nor purchased with the intent of using them to kill) lets look at it this way.


GUns--which you claim are made for the purpose of killing, kill less people than an item that has never been made to be a weapon-cars.

what does that tell you
 
TurtleDude said:
without arguing your assertion extensively (many guns in America are not intended, nor purchased with the intent of using them to kill) lets look at it this way.


GUns--which you claim are made for the purpose of killing, kill less people than an item that has never been made to be a weapon-cars.

what does that tell you
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Tells us there are a lot of people who need to improve their driving skills.....Duh....next silly question..
 
Logician Man said:
Tells us there are a lot of people who need to improve their driving skills.....Duh....next silly question..
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that's one of the first sensible suggestions you have made. Yes, lots of people do stupid things-texting while driving, driving drunk etc.
 
TurtleDude said:
that's one of the first sensible suggestions you have made. Yes, lots of people do stupid things-texting while driving, driving drunk etc.
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Another one was challenging your asinine claim ' 2500 murders per year by 'legal gun owners' is statistically insignificant. " . Most rational thinking individuals would never proclaim the murders of 2500 people per year by 'anyone' is 'statistically insignificant.' Most rational thinking people value 'all' human lives, and don't consider their murders to be 'statistically insignificant' under any circumstance.
 
Logician Man said:
Another one was challenging your asinine claim ' 2500 murders per year by 'legal gun owners' is statistically insignificant. " . Most rational thinking individuals would never proclaim the murders of 2500 people per year by 'anyone' is 'statistically insignificant.' Most rational thinking people value 'all' human lives, and don't consider their murders to be 'statistically insignificant' under any circumstance.
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Other posters have constantly agreed that 2500 deaths in a country of over 300 million are STATISTICALLY irrelevant. I get the fact that you constantly come onto threads and bring this nonsense up out of the blue when it has nothing to do with the topic. And you constantly lie and are dishonest in that when we are looking at a country of 300+ million, that number of deaths, objectively, is not significant. Your pathetic attempts to denigrate my accurate comments by engaging in emotional drivel doesn't work
 
TurtleDude said:
Other posters have constantly agreed that 2500 deaths in a country of over 300 million are STATISTICALLY irrelevant. I get the fact that you constantly come onto threads and bring this nonsense up out of the blue when it has nothing to do with the topic. And you constantly lie and are dishonest in that when we are looking at a country of 300+ million, that number of deaths, objectively, is not significant. Your pathetic attempts to denigrate my accurate comments by engaging in emotional drivel doesn't work
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I don't care what other posters have stated. YOU made the claim. I've asked you before, and you ran from the question. So, I'll ask you again, and hopefully you won't choose to run from the question again. If, in YOUR opinion, 2500 murders per year is 'statistically insignificant, at what 'specific' number of murders by 'legal' gun owners per year, does that number become 'statistically SIGNIFICANT" ?....All you have to do is provide a number. What is that number ?
 
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If, and it is a big if, you really want to stop some of these killings, the first step is this

BRING BACK STATE RUN MENTAL INSTITUTIONS

every state shut down their facilities because of costs....and we as a nation, decided to dole out meds like they were candy. But meds can be taken, or not taken, and when these people who have issues, stop taking their meds, they can and do become violent. We need to recognize these people, put them under watch, and if needed, put them back in these health facilities where they can get the treatment they actually need. Not kick them to the curb with a bottle of scrips hoping that they will take them. Every jr high, and high school needs to have trained counselors on staff to recognize the dangers of young people in trouble, and make sure we get to them in time.

guns by themselves are not the issue....people are the issue....hate is the issue....violence is the issue....the gun is only the tool
 
Logician Man said:
I don't care what other posters have stated. YOU made the claim. I've asked you before, and you ran from the question. So, I'll ask you again, and hopefully you won't choose to run from the question again. If, in YOUR opinion, 2500 murders per year is 'statistically insignificant, at what 'specific' number number of murders by 'legal' gun owners, does that number become 'statistically SIGNIFICANT" ?....All you have to do is provide a number. What is that number ?
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you try to dishonestly gain some sort of moral upper ground by pretending that when I CORRECTLY state that 2500 deaths in a country of 300+ million is statistically insignificant-by pretending that from the perspective of one of the victims or their loved ones-that I don't care. It is dishonest and you do it constantly. Gun shot deaths from guns legally owned aren't even in the top 15 in terms of leading causes of death. They are way behind medical malpractice, car wrecks due to distracted driving, car wrecks due to impaired drivers, etc.

Your pathetic fixation on this issue-an issue you constantly raise on different threads, is nothing more than diversionary nonsense and has absolutely nothing to do with the topic
 
TurtleDude said:
you try to dishonestly gain some sort of moral upper ground by pretending that when I CORRECTLY state that 2500 deaths in a country of 300+ million is statistically insignificant-by pretending that from the perspective of one of the victims or their loved ones-that I don't care. It is dishonest and you do it constantly. Gun shot deaths from guns legally owned aren't even in the top 15 in terms of leading causes of death. They are way behind medical malpractice, car wrecks due to distracted driving, car wrecks due to impaired drivers, etc.

Your pathetic fixation on this issue-an issue you constantly raise on different threads, is nothing more than diversionary nonsense and has absolutely nothing to do with the topic
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Obvious deflection....What is the number ? You're going to run from the fair question again, aren't you ?
 
Logician Man said:
Obvious deflection....What is the number ? You're going to run from the fair question again, aren't you ?
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look up Associate Justice Potter Stewart's comment about pornography. Now tell us how 2500 deaths are more significant than 15 other causes of premature deaths in the USA.
 
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