You’ve undoubtedly heard the statement that the U.S. leads the world in mass shootings. After all, our previous President seemed to have that phrase permanently etched into his teleprompter, and anti-gunners desperately want for you to believe it’s true.
But it isn’t. Not even close.
So, why do we keep hearing that? Well, obviously, one reason (and, maybe, the only reason) is because anti-gunners want pro-Second Amendment folks like you and me to give up our guns without a fight.
The problem, though, is that the only place from where they are able to “justify” their assertion that the U.S. leads the world in mass shootings is from a paper by a criminologist named Adam Lankford which claimed to have included all mass shootings worldwide from 1966 to 2012. John Lott and Michael Weisser tell us that, in that paper, “Lankford claimed that the United States had 31 percent of public mass shooters despite having less than 5 percent of the population.”
Sounds pretty scary and pretty convincing, right? And, if he is so sure of his numbers, he would allow his sources to be reviewed so that others could duplicate the process and get the same results. It’s basic integrity in any scientific validation process.
But Lankford won’t reveal his sources or even disclose which languages were used in his data accumulation process. In other words, he steadfastly refuses even the basic information necessary for verification.
Now, if that weren’t fishy enough, Lankford completey endorsed a New York Police Department report from 2012 which he said was “nearly comprehensive” in it’s review of the data, and that he used that same data collection method. But the authors of that NYPD report said,
[Our researchers] “limited [their] Internet searches to English-language sites, creating a strong sampling bias against international incidents,” and thus under-count foreign mass shootings.
It’s pretty clear that Lankford is either fast and loose with his “facts” so that they can’t be trusted, or he isn’t telling the truth about what the data actually says. And, if that’s the case, he still can’t be trusted.
But, if that weren’t enough, the Crime Prevention Research Center released a new report which shows that, when you actually look at international statistics which we can actually depend on (because accurate statistics weren’t available for many parts of the world before 1988), the statistics for the percentage of mass shootings world wide that happen in the U.S. fall from Lankford’s 31 percent to 1.43 percent. That’s not a typo. Lott and Weisser write,
Of the 86 countries where we have identified mass public shootings, the US ranks 56th per capita in its rate of attacks and 61st in mass public shooting murder rate. Norway, Finland, Switzerland and Russia all have at least 45 percent higher rates of murder from mass public shootings than the United States.
When Lankford’s data is revised, the relationship between gun ownership rates and mass public shooters disappears.
To put it bluntly, you’ve been lied to. We all have. The statistics simply don’t say that gun ownership equates to more mass shootings, and don’t let any uninformed anti-gunner tell you otherwise.
It’s human nature to pick and choose the data and statistics that more closely fit your preferred narrative. Honest researchers (of which there are not enough in the world today) will correct their assumptions or admit when they’ve made a mistake. Researchers should be open to following the evidence, not picking the evidence that leads the direction they want. Anyone who won’t share their sources and methodology is clearly trying to hide something. The scientific community of inquiry over the past two millennia has been built upon sharing methodology so that results can be independently verified, as well as changing your believes to fit the new evidence. These days, the Left does very little of either, which is a serious breach of trust.
For many, it is human nature to outright Lie !
PLAIN AND SIMPLE THE ONLY REASON FOR GUN CONTROL IS SO THIS COUNTRY CAN BE EASIER OVER THROWN BY THE DEEP STATES OPERATIVES AND ANTI-AMERICAN TRAITOR’S AGAINST THE CITIZEN GOVERNMENT OF THIS NATION AND THE DULY ELECTED POTUS AND HIS ADMINISTRATION ETC!!
I AGREE with you 100%
You just night have a plausible explanation for the gun ban/gun control organization.Why does mike bloomberg, chuck schumer, jerald nadler and others arm themselves .They all have pistol carry licenses but decent law abiding citizens can’t get them. Ive got an idea vote these A$$ -oles out of office.Put those who understand that when you have only seconds to live the cops are only minutes away>>actually you are dead when the arrive.Your right to self defense is a Constitutional one not a politician given one
You are absolutely correct my friend!
the only reason for gun control is to make us a communist country. wake up, there is no “democratic party” in the US. they are the ” demokratic party” . they lie like commies, sound like commies and push socialized agendas like commies, when is everyone going to realize they are commies. as long as we have guns we can oppose their plans,they know that , even when statistics say more guns means less crime, and they still lie and push gun control. they know it wont stop crime, England proved that, but they still lie, you can’t have a communist country and control your people if they have guns.
History backs you up. In every country that has had an oppressive regime have first unarmed their population. Americans are not like everyone else. Americans were settlers and explorers. We carved out a country that is ruled by its CITIZENS, something that WAS unheard of. America became the beacon of freedom in the world, and now is the target of the Communists. How dare America not rush to be just like every other failing country in the world.
AMERICANS MUST stand and SUPPORT OUR PRESIDENT TRUMP.
I AGREE with you 100%
As always, Obama is full of crap! He wouldn’t know the truth if it bit him on the keester! Lies, lies and more lies! Obama did more damage to America that any other President!
He knows what is TRUE and what NOT, but he HATES “TRUTH” just like hillary because that is HOW “Commies” WORK, they are both UNHAPPY if they CAN’T screw people OVER, just hope that we will get the JUSTICE we all so dearly DESERVE on BOTH of THEM…..!!!!!
I get a laugh out of “statistics” that appear quite often. Besides, the whole issue is a people problem and not as weapons problem.
These “commies” are waging war against the Supreme Law of the Land. That equates to TREASON as far as I am concerned. They need to be charged with the crime and hung on the White House lawn if found guilty ( which they will be).
Looks like some one just got out of the shower for he’s all wet on this that he is saying.
Like all researchers all you have to do is follow the money. Who paid for the “research ” that obama used. I’ll be willing to bet if you dig deep enough you’ll find friends of obama et al.
Would you believe anything Obunghole said.You can keep your doctor or Bengazi was a conspiracy theory even though four Americans died.
He’s got NOTHING else to say about it, just like hillary ALWAYS “spewed” Right Wing Conspiracy….That’s ALL they got, THEY are BOTH very EMPTY, HOLLOW headed….!!!! MILLIONS of people “see right THROUGH them” just TOO BAD that NO one has STOPPED them yet spreading their LIES….!!! There is a saying though: “God’s mills turn slow BUT eventually THEY will get their WELL-DESERVED “punishment”….!!!
The “Brown Clown” is the worst thing that ever happened to the United States. If Obumma gives a statistic
you can BET it is a LIE.
TRUE
Obama is damned liar.
I don’t think they are communists. I think they are Nazi imitators or maybe Royalists. They want to live like kings supported by hard working, underpaid, underprivileged slaves. You can’t let slaves have access to guns! They know that. They are not idealistic, they are self-absorbed, narcissistic, selfish, oligarchs.
What do you mean, my reply needs “moderation”? Are you censoring me?
Comments are closed.