An 18-year-old woman was pronounced dead at the scene, and a 20-year-old man was pronounced dead later at a local hospital. Nine of the people injured were transported to hospitals from the scene, while the other 20 victims walked into various hospitals in the area. A suspect has not been arrested in connection with the mass shooting.
As an American, you are statistically more likely to be struck by lightning than randomly shot.
I am 65 years old and have lived in multiple states. Never been shot at, never shot a gun (except in the US Navy), never experienced any gun violence in my personal life.
As a child welfare worker I have experienced a few cases of gun violence in my professional life of nearly 30 years.
The situation of gun violence is extremely serious but also highly dramatized by media leading to the possibility of miscalculating risk.
Be careful and situationally aware is all the advice I can provide.
To expand your analogy.
As an Australian I am equally likely to be hit by lightening but about 1,000 times less likely to die by gunshot than if I was American.
The situation of gun violence in the USA is very serious and bad analogies (comparing random nature to deliberate human actions) that seek to dismiss it as a common issue when it is not are not helpful at all.
When you compare America’s gun violence to other countries, which is a much more logical comparison than lightning, it is obvious America has a horrific gun violence problem.
To quell some confusion regarding gun deaths and gun deaths related to crime in the U.S. you have to dig a little more to understand the picture better.
Gun crime in the U.S. is not great, but it is not as bad as it is perceived. This said, I’m in firm agreement that something needs to be done about mass shootings. We have the collective will to do this, yet are constantly stymied by interpretation of the 2nd Amendment, and the NRA (which lobbies against gun related crime/deaths in the U.S. on a continuous basis).
So gun deaths in the U.S. are high…second highest in the world.
- Brazil — 49,436
- United States — 37,038
- Venezuela — 28,515
- Mexico — 22,116
- India — 14,710
- Colombia — 13,169
- Philippines — 9,267
- Guatemala — 5,980
However deaths related to gun violence offers a different picture…here are the top 10 countries with the highest number of gun-related homicides per 100,000 (2019 data).
- El Salvador — 36.78
- Venezuela — 33.27
- Guatemala — 29.06
- Colombia — 26.36
- Brazil — 21.93
- Bahamas — 21.52
- Honduras — 20.15
- U.S. Virgin Islands — 19.40
- Puerto Rico — 18.14
- Mexico — 16.41
Suicide
Bringing in suicide statistics via firearm clarifies this picture even further
Top 10 countries with the highest suicide rate by firearm per 100,000
Greenland — 16.36
United States — 7.12
Uruguay — 4.74
San Marino — 4.08
Montenegro — 3.40
Argentina — 2.67
Finland — 2.66
Monaco — 2.64
France — 2.64
Venezuela — 2.50
The total rate of firearm deaths in the U.S. is 10.89 per 100,000. This means, the total rate of firearm deaths due to violent crime is 3.77 per 100,000 people.
So while mass shootings in the U.S. are a problem, it’s not as impactful as the suicide rate by firearm in the country.
Going to the US or living there is scary. At least in some countries like in Mexico, an innocent my get hit accidentally by gangs wars. In the US the bullets seems to be directly for the innocent people.
It really isn’t. You have to keep in mind the country is huge and shootings are done of the few things which makes international news. I live in Maryland and the only time I’ve felt unsafe going to Baltimore is getting lost at 11pm after a show
You can easily check per 100k rate… America is up there with the finest banana republics.
With that being said, it doesn’t stop me from living my life bit the risk of getting shot is way higher in the US than any “developed” country
Sure the risk of getting shot but not crime in general (which makes sense given most other developed countries do not allow guns to the same extent.) The rhetoric that you are at serious risk of getting shot just walking down the street is absurd.
Homicide: Ranked 28 which is higher than other developed countries but still FAR from the highest https://wisevoter.com/country-rankings/murder-rate-by-country/
Rape: Ranked 13, below Iceland, Norway, and France.
https://wisevoter.com/country-rankings/rape-statistics-by-country/
Crime: Ranked 66 below Spain, France, and Italy. https://wisevoter.com/country-rankings/crime-rate-by-country/
Meh, I grew up next to some favelas, and that level of violence is another level entirely, it’s just not covered as intently. People get kidnapped, families of rival gangs are targeted, not to mention the extortion.
That being said, the US has no fucking excuse. Central and South American countries suffering from massive gangs and civil wars, they have a good reason for having so many gun deaths.
