4 ms·

I’m curious what definition you’d choose that didn’t just add “with an assault rifle” to the end.

by kasey_junk 2y ago

tptacek 2y ago
The Congressional Research Service definition works for me.
- kasey_junk 2y ago
  CRS defines 12 deferent types of mass shooting: https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R48276 https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R48276 I’d guess you mean the mass public shooting one. It’s hard to find comprehensive data on all the dimensions but in this report for instance https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/R44126.pdf https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/R44126.pdf You’ll see 16 of 66 mass public shootings were performed by assault weapons that were illegal under the Brady ban but legal now (another one was an illegal conversion and a final one was performed by a police officer who could legally purchase under either regime). So I don’t agree with you about where you’d focus if you wanted to stop mass shootings. And worse than that I think focusing on assault rifles especially turns what is a pretty universally agreed upon problem (mass shootings are increasing and becoming more deadly) into a culture war issue. The courts are nearly certain to affirm civilians rights to own assault rifles soon. We can keep chasing ever more caricatured laws around weapon definitions or we can focus on things that don’t require the culture war: - strong and universal enforcement of the laws on the books that don’t abridge the legal possession rights of citizens (felony straw purchase enforcement, background checks, felony bans, etc) - make domestic abuse disqualifying for firearm ownership (by making it a higher class of crime and enforcing it) - red flag laws and training on identification (including a process to surrender firearms when in crisis and to regain your rights when not) - repeal all the crazy laws preventing the gun industry from being researched and sued - safe storage laws - civil and criminal liability for providing firearms used in crimes And while we’re at it let’s get gun owners mental health resources and build a culture where it’s normal to store guns outside of your house if you start having suicidal thoughts.

I’m curious what definition you’d choose that didn’t just add “with an assault rifle” to the end.

tptacek 2y ago

The Congressional Research Service definition works for me.

kasey_junk 2y ago
CRS defines 12 deferent types of mass shooting: https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R48276 https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R48276 I’d guess you mean the mass public shooting one. It’s hard to find comprehensive data on all the dimensions but in this report for instance https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/R44126.pdf https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/R44126.pdf You’ll see 16 of 66 mass public shootings were performed by assault weapons that were illegal under the Brady ban but legal now (another one was an illegal conversion and a final one was performed by a police officer who could legally purchase under either regime). So I don’t agree with you about where you’d focus if you wanted to stop mass shootings. And worse than that I think focusing on assault rifles especially turns what is a pretty universally agreed upon problem (mass shootings are increasing and becoming more deadly) into a culture war issue. The courts are nearly certain to affirm civilians rights to own assault rifles soon. We can keep chasing ever more caricatured laws around weapon definitions or we can focus on things that don’t require the culture war: - strong and universal enforcement of the laws on the books that don’t abridge the legal possession rights of citizens (felony straw purchase enforcement, background checks, felony bans, etc) - make domestic abuse disqualifying for firearm ownership (by making it a higher class of crime and enforcing it) - red flag laws and training on identification (including a process to surrender firearms when in crisis and to regain your rights when not) - repeal all the crazy laws preventing the gun industry from being researched and sued - safe storage laws - civil and criminal liability for providing firearms used in crimes And while we’re at it let’s get gun owners mental health resources and build a culture where it’s normal to store guns outside of your house if you start having suicidal thoughts.