Tag: gun control

The Myth That the US Leads the World in Mass Shootings

If you asked me this morning which nation has the most mass shootings in the world, I would have said, with perhaps a flicker of hesitation, the United States.

This is a tad embarrassing to admit because I’m pretty familiar with shooting statistics, having written several articles on gun violence and the Second Amendment. Below is a basic overview of gun violence in America. While gun homicides have been steadily declining for decades in the US, mass shootings have indeed been trending upward.

This fact alone probably would not have led me to believe that the US leads the world in mass shootings, however. An assist goes to the US media and politicians.

The Dominant Narrative

“Let’s be clear,” President Obama said in 2015 after a shooting in North Carolina. “At some point, we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries.”

Sen. Harry Reid echoed this sentiment. “The United States is the only advanced country where this kind of mass violence occurs.”

Media headlines have left little doubt that the US leads the world in mass shootings. In fact, according to CNN, it isn’t even close.

The comments and data seem to conclusively say that the US leads the world in mass shootings and the violence is unique, a product of “America’s gun culture.”

It’s a slam dunk case except for one thing: it’s not true.

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Ban on 205 Different ‘Assault Weapons’ Introduced by Sen. Feinstein

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) on Thursday introduced a ban on more than 200 “assault weapons” after the House passed two gun-control measures pertaining to background checks.

Her bill (pdf), called the “Assault Weapons Ban of 2021,” is co-sponsored by 34 Senate Democrats and would ban ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 rounds—similar to the bans on magazines in New York state and California.

According to the legislation, which was also introduced in the House by Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.), the ban would encompass more than 205 rifles. Feinstein’s bill would allow current owners of the guns to retain possession of them. If that gun is transferred, a person has to undergo an FBI background check before getting the firearm.

The bill also bans any weapon that has the capacity to use a magazine that isn’t a fixed ammunition magazine and has one or more characteristics such as a pistol grip, forward grip, a threaded barrel, a folding or telescoping stock, or a barrel shroud.

The bill “requires that grandfathered assault weapons are stored using a secure gun storage or safety device like a trigger lock” and prohibits the transfer of high-capacity ammunition magazines while banning “bump-fire stocks and other devices that allow semi-automatic weapons to fire at fully automatic rates,” according to a news release from Feinstein’s office. Bump-fire stocks were made illegal in March 2019.

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House Passes Gun-Control Bill Expanding Background Checks on Firearm Sales

The House recently passed another control measure, H.R. 1446, which allows for the FBI to indefinitely delay background checks. Currently, there is a three-day default transfer window. That measure was introduced by Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.).It comes as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Thursday said they would reintroduce other gun control measures. President Joe Biden’s administration also expressed support for such measures in recent days.

“No more hopes and prayers, thoughts and prayers—a vote is what we need,” said Schumer in a news conference as he vowed to bring H.R. 8 out of former Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell’s “legislative graveyard” after it stalled in the Senate in 2019.

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