9 ms·

I'm tired of the media (NYT in particular) acting like mass shootings are actually a significant danger in the USA today. Going back to 2010, there have been 1

by aftbit 11y ago

I'm tired of the media (NYT in particular) acting like mass shootings are actually a significant danger in the USA today. Going back to 2010, there have been 182 fatalities[1] in the United States due to mass shootings. In the same amount of time, there have been about 158 fatalities due to being struck by lightning.[2] In 2013 alone, there were 611,105 fatalities due to heart disease and 56,979 due to influenza and pneumonia.[3] The stats are a bit out of date, but from 2005-2009, ~3,500 people drowned (in "non-boating accidents") each year.[4] If you're worried about yourself or a loved one dying, don't worry about dying in a mass shooting. It's about as likely as being struck by lightning. [1]: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/12/mass-shootings-mother-jones-full-data http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/12/mass-shootings-m... [2]: http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/fatalities.shtml http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/fatalities.shtml [3]: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm [4]: http://www.cdc.gov/HomeandRecreationalSafety/Water-Safety/waterinjuries-factsheet.html http://www.cdc.gov/HomeandRecreationalSafety/Water-Safety/wa...

pacala 11y ago
You are technically correct. However: * Fatalities due to being struck by lightning are largely avoidable by educating oneself on how to behave around a lightning storm. http://hikingdude.com/hiking-lightning.php http://hikingdude.com/hiking-lightning.php * Fatalities due to illnesses occur mostly in old people, after the child bearing years. It's much easier to cope with the death of a parent than it is with the death of a child. For young people that don't engage in reckless behavior, you have not refuted that mass shooting are unfortunately a comparatively large risk.
- aftbit 11y ago
  I didn't do quite as much research for this one, but here's CDC's "leading causes of death" table for 2013.[1] #1 for 25-34: unintentional injury with 16,209 deaths. #2 for 25-34: suicide, 6,348 deaths (but if you don't engage in risky behavior, you wouldn't commit suicide, right?) #3 for 25-34, homicide, 4,236 deaths - the vast majority of these are _not_ in mass-shooting incidents, of course. #4 is cancer (3,673 deaths) and #5 is heart disease (3,258 deaths). By the way, for felony homicides, the majority (69.1%) are perpetrated against a single victim[2]. [1] (PDF warning): http://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/pdf/leading_causes_of_death_by_age_group_2013-a.pdf http://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/pdf/leading_causes_of_deat... [2]: https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2011/crime-in-the-u.s.-2011/tables/expanded-homicide-data-table-4 https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2011/...
deleted 11y ago
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by aftbit 11y ago

pacala 11y ago

You are technically correct. However: * Fatalities due to being struck by lightning are largely avoidable by educating oneself on how to behave around a lightning storm. http://hikingdude.com/hiking-lightning.php http://hikingdude.com/hiking-lightning.php * Fatalities due to illnesses occur mostly in old people, after the child bearing years. It's much easier to cope with the death of a parent than it is with the death of a child. For young people that don't engage in reckless behavior, you have not refuted that mass shooting are unfortunately a comparatively large risk.

aftbit 11y ago
I didn't do quite as much research for this one, but here's CDC's "leading causes of death" table for 2013.[1] #1 for 25-34: unintentional injury with 16,209 deaths. #2 for 25-34: suicide, 6,348 deaths (but if you don't engage in risky behavior, you wouldn't commit suicide, right?) #3 for 25-34, homicide, 4,236 deaths - the vast majority of these are _not_ in mass-shooting incidents, of course. #4 is cancer (3,673 deaths) and #5 is heart disease (3,258 deaths). By the way, for felony homicides, the majority (69.1%) are perpetrated against a single victim[2]. [1] (PDF warning): http://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/pdf/leading_causes_of_death_by_age_group_2013-a.pdf http://www.cdc.gov/injury/wisqars/pdf/leading_causes_of_deat... [2]: https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2011/crime-in-the-u.s.-2011/tables/expanded-homicide-data-table-4 https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2011/...

deleted 11y ago

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