Random Thoughts On The San Bernardino Shootings

On Wednesday in San Bernardino CA, 14 people were killed and 21 wounded by two heavily armed conservative Christian NRA members.

Oh, wait...

I'm sure many on the left were disappointed that the shooters were not members of the Tea Party. I'm also sure that they were chagrined to learn that the killers turned out to be muslims. 

Here's yesterday's front page from the New York Post.

 

Factually accurate. No hyperbole or stereotyping. But it runs contrary to the politically correct view that the vast majority of muslims are peaceful, law abiding innocents. Take this tweet, for example, from CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations) referring to the Post's headline.


Maybe if muslims would quit shooting people the rhetoric would stop.

Speaking of off-the-mark responses, by now you've probably heard the usual response of anti-gun nuts. One thing I've noticed this time around is an emphasis on the number of mass shootings in the past year or so. Setting aside questions about the data collection and analysis methodology, let's take a look at the other side of the coin.

Several mass shootings this year have brought renewed attention to the issue of gun violence in America, and President Obama has again called for Congress to change the nation’s gun laws.

But the increased spotlight on guns does not reflect the overall gun violence trend in the country. Although most Americans think the number of gun crimes has risen, the U.S. gun homicide rate has actually stabilized somewhat in recent years, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of death certificate data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Between 1993 and 2000, the gun homicide rate dropped by nearly half, from 7.0 homicides to 3.8 homicides per 100,000 people. Since then, the gun homicide rate has remained relatively flat. From 2010 to 2013, the most recent year data are available, the number of gun homicides has hovered between 11,000 and 12,000 per year.

The nation’s overall gun death rate has declined 30% since 1993. This total includes homicides and suicides, in addition to a smaller number of fatal police shootings, accidental shooting deaths and those of undetermined intent.

Something to think about. Of course, facts mean little to gun grabbers.