Only 3% of “mass shootings” fit the “active shooter” narrative.
QUICK FACTS:
- An analysis from The Daily Caller using information on the Gun Violence Archive (GVA) found that more than 97% of “mass shootings” do not fit the mainstream left-wing narrative about gun violence.
- GVA considers a “mass shooting” to be an event where more than four individuals are shot.
- The analysis follows reports from mainstream media sources calling for stricter gun legislation in the wake of recent shooter events.
- For instance, Democratic gun legislation proposals would only emphasize the 38 out of 1,768 people either killed or injured in shootings involving at least four victims.
- The remaining casualties involve suspects that are unrelated to the mainstream media’s narrative of mass shootings.
- The majority of shooters did not have the premeditated, ideologically-driven plan to target individuals often purported by legacy media and politicians.
- Only four incidents recorded in GVA fit that narrative.
- According to Charles Lehman of the Manhattan Institute, the increase in gun violence over the last several years is due to “less social control being exercised formally and informally, over the small subset of the population.”
- National Rifle Association (NRA) spokesperson Billy McLaughlin said, “This national crisis is caused by coddling criminals and not prosecuting and punishing them.”
- “President Biden and his allies target law-abiding citizens exercising their constitutional rights, while ignoring law-breaking thugs obtaining illegal guns and spreading violence. The media is complicit in overusing the term ‘mass shootings’, which helps Biden and his team to sweep their disastrous policies under the rug,” McLaughlin added, referring to the Biden administration’s expansion of the Safer Communities Act and similar policies making it more difficult for law-abiding citizens to exercise their Second Amendment.
BREAKING DOWN THE DATA:
- The data analyzed dates from January 1, 2023, to June 30, 2023.
- Each case recorded included gang affiliation, criminal records, and if the rifle or pistol was legally or illegally owned.
- Most cases were related to random events following an altercation outside of a bar and did not involve illegal gun ownership.
- Gang-related activity was also frequently reported.
- Seventy-seven reports in GVA involved an illegally-obtained firearm.
- According to the analysis, less than 2% of mass shootings occurred at a place of worship, mall, movie theater, or school, contradicting politicians’ warning that those locations may be places of concern following mass shooter events.
- “We all want to drop them off at a house of worship, a mall, a movie, a school door without worrying that it’s the last time we’re going to see them,” Biden said at the National Safer Communities Summit.
BACKGROUND:
- The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reported that civilians with guns stopping active shooter events occur 4.4% of the time, although the actual rate may be close to 34.4%.
- Founder of the Crime Prevention Research Center, John Lott, analyzed active shooter events from 2014 to 2021, finding that out of 360 incidents, 124 were stopped by an armed civilian (34.4%) of the time.
- Lott believes the FBI’s numbers are incorrect due to misjudgment and data limitations.
