More than one mass shooting, every day of the year

A photo of the Memorial Service for the Santa Clarita victims.

I’ve been meaning to post some links on gun violence, but like with politics these days, it’s hard to keep up. So, I’ll *try* not to pile on too much stuff. But there has been lots of interesting research coming out lately, along with the constant refrain of mass shootings--along with all the other kinds of shootings. 

First, here’s a good overview of school shootings from CNN:

“‘To prevent school shootings, experts agree we need comprehensive and reliable data. Without that research, we’re going blind into a “deadly future,” cautions Mark Rosenberg, who worked at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for 20 years and led its gun violence research.

“‘You need those interventions that reduce gun violence and save lives, but that also protect the rights of law-abiding gun owners,” says Rosenberg. “But we don’t know what works … and we’re not looking. That’s the disgrace.’”

Here's a update on what we know about the Santa Clarita school shooter. This is a tragedy for his family, as well as for the families of the victims. It's hard to know what to say. But the information is important. When others dispute the notion that owning guns increases risk for yourself and your community, I don't know how they can ignore stories like this. Guns are dangerous. They shouldn't be treated casually, including when it comes to storage.

A point that I keep pounding is that we should look at more than deaths in assessing the problem of gun violence. For example, the FBI defines a mass shooting as four or more killed. But the recent Santa Clarita shooting resulted in three dead (including the shooter) and three wounded. That’s not a mass shooting? The ongoing costs and scars left on the wounded and the community seem to me understated by the FBI standard—and by the lack of followup in the media—as we all move on to the next mass shooting, which has already happened. Not paying attention to the injured, and the costs they bear, along with society, seems to me to be a big mistake. 

From Vice: “Everytown for Gun Safety found that for every gun-related death in the U.S., another two people hit by gun violence are left injured, maimed, or incapacitated. The societal costs of those life-altering injuries are far-reaching, ranging from the victims' long-term reliance on federal health care services to their permanent exit from the tax-providing workforce.”

By the way, Gun Violence Archive, which includes wounded in its mass-shooting measurement, lists 371 mass shootings in the US so far in 2019. More than one for every day of the year. 

CNN also did this story on survivors of the El Paso shooting:

“It's been three months since the gunman, targeting Mexicans and Mexican-Americans, shattered the well-being of this community. Dozens of survivors are fighting to get their lives back. While they slowly recover from severe physical injuries, many still see the bloodshed in the form of vivid nightmares. They struggle financially because they can't return to work just yet.”

Finally, some good news… I push academic studies because I believe that highly-trained people who study these issues with scientific rigor should be listened to. I think data is important. No study is the final word, but most can shed light on a subject. So, I feel an obligation to share a study that should be welcome by my pro-gun friends. This study shows that gun violence goes down during hunting season. It’s one study, and of course it’s kind of focused on a specialized group, but I think it raises some interesting points. Worth reading.

Update: I recently found that the FBI actually has no category for mass shootings. It has a category for "mass killings" instead, defined as four or more people killed, not counting the assailant. So my statement above is mistaken. I'm curious as to why the FBI hasn't updated the category in a way that better reflects the current circumstances we find ourselves in. Mass shootings have become a near-daily part of our lives, tragically.