General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Why was the reaction to the Navy Yard shootings more muted than that of Sandy Hook? [View all]mythology
(9,527 posts)and there are those who don't. The NRA absolutely doesn't give a damn about mass killings other than as an opportunity to make money. There's a reason that Wayne LaPierre is going around saying that we need more people with guns, even though in this case, the guards with guns weren't able to stop the lone gunman. It's because it creates fear among those who are willing to support the NRA.
There are responsible gun owners who are willing to discuss restrictions and other measures, but the NRA and its ilk aren't willing to be involved in a reasonable discussion. One of the features of our government is that it can often protect the minority at the expense of the majority, even if that minority is incredibly tiny, like the 10% of people in the U.S. who don't support universal background checks.
Additionally there is mixed evidence on the incidence of mass shootings. The FBI definition, which is 4 or more victims of any crime, shows no increase, but if you exclude gang violence and armed robbery, there is a distinct increase in mass shootings. When I think of a mass shooting, I think of something like Sandy Hook, the Navy Yard or Columbine. One or two gunmen, usually mentally disturbed and not on drugs, attacking a large grouping of people.
So the only reason that it can be said that the level of mass shootings isn't increasing is because crime overall is dropping, not the sort of random mass shootings that we know as Sandy Hook, as the Navy Yard, as the Arvada movie theater. I think it's silly to lump gang violence and armed robbery in with random shootings. The drive to commit the crimes are so different that the same preventative measures won't work. You can't send an anti-gang task force to stop a lone gunman in a movie theater. You can't have detailed information on crime patterns to know that the next random mass shooting will be at the liquor store down the street that has been robbed 5 times in the last year like you can with armed robbery.