U.S. Reportedly Ranks Number 1 In Nations With The Most Mass Shootings; Expert Attributes Incidents To The Country’s High Rates Of Gun Ownership
According to data gathered by researchers, the U.S. emerges as the number one country with the most mass shooting incidents. Of the 166 mass shootings recorded in the U.S. and 13 other nations between the years 2000 and 2014, the U.S. accounted for 133 mass shootings, reported The Wall Street Journal on Saturday.
Associate professor at the University Of Alabama Department Of Criminal Justice Adam Lankford studied mass shootings that took place in 1966 until 2012 worldwide and found that countries with the most recorded incidents of mass shootings per capita are also those who have higher rates of gun ownership.
A Geneva-based research project, Small Arms Survey 2011, revealed that the U.S. reportedly has the most firearms with approximately 270 million, or 89 firearms for every 100 residents, followed by Yemen with approximately 55 firearms per 100 residents and Switzerland with 46 firearms per 100 residents.
Lankford describes a mass shooter as a person who killed at least four individuals. Based on information gathered from police reports, news articles and scholarly articles, Lankford learned that U.S. mass shooters often strike at schools and workplaces and use many weapons compared to more than 170 countries in his research.
"If we could simply limit the number of weapons-one firearm, instead of multiple-even that pretty minimal progress would save lives," said Lankford.
Some politicians in the U.S. have been pushing for a tighter gun law following the many mass shootings they have experienced over the recent years and citizens have also grown tired and desperate for the government's slow action on the matter.
Vox noted on Sunday that comedian and television host Stephen Colbert set aside his comedic tone on his show following the recent mass shooting at Umpqua Community College in Oregon that allegedly resulted to 10 deaths and seven injuries on Oct. 1.
"In the face of the killings in Oregon yesterday, I honestly don't know what to do or say - other than that our hearts are broken for the people struck by this senseless tragedy," said Colbert. "And I don't know how to start a show like this, which is often about whatever happened in the last 24 hours. I can't pretend that it didn't happen. I also can't pretend to know what to do to prevent what happened yesterday all the times it has happened before."
"But I think pretending is part of the problem," the television host added. "These things happen over and over again, and we are naturally horrified and shocked when we hear about them. But then we change nothing, and we pretend that it won't happen again."
"Some say the answer is stricter gun laws," Colbert continued. "Others say the answer is mental health care - that we need better treatment or just keep the guns out of the hands of the insane. Maybe it's both. I honestly don't know. But I do know that one of the definitions of insanity is changing nothing and then pretending that something will change."
