![Rep Jim Costa gun control Rep Jim Costa gun control](https://cdn0.thetruthaboutguns.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/AP_19004103631861.jpg)
The quote of the day is presented by Guns.com.
You may have seen the story about the shooting in Fresno yesterday. The details: members of one Fresno gang opened fire on members of a rival gang at a football watch party. Four died and six were wounded.
To repeat: members of one well known street gang shot up members of another gang, doing what criminal street gangs are known to do. Now Congressman Jim Costa is using the attack in his district to argue that universal background checks and red flag laws will somehow do something to stop gang bangers from shooting each other.
After being dumb enough to him in office, he apparently thinks his constituents will fall for anything.
A California Democrat is calling for the Senate to take up gun control measures passed by the House after a mass shooting in his district Sunday night.
Rep. Jim Costa (D-Calif.), who represents Fresno, tweeted that his “thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families,” while adding that “as a community and a country, thoughts and prayers are not enough!”
“We have passed meaningful bipartisan gun safety legislation this year in Congress that Sen Mitch McConnell [R-Ky.] refuses to bring up in the Senate,” Costa tweeted. “This plague of gun violence in our country, as we continue to witness, knows no boundaries. We must come together to bring rational and practical solutions to support our local communities throughout our nation.”
– John Bowden in Fresno congressman calls for Senate to take up gun legislation after deadly mass shooting at football party
Ummm, how about we go back and look at the criminal history of these bangers and see how many crimes they were NOT prosecuted for. I’m betting most if not all of them have extensive records and that at least half will have had gun charges at one point or another.
Logical rational evaluation of a complex issue that is interwoven with political intrigues? You realize this State is in competition with mine to out oppress their law abiding citizens right? Joking aside I am curious about the criminals history for all parties involved.
On a related gun-grabbing Californian Democrat Congressman story, we have our old pal (*gag*) Eric “Nuke the Deplorables” Swalwell is going viral with intestinal gasses :
Sound up for this –
https://twitter.com/GMB/status/1196700918378565633
By far the most substantive comment Eric has ever made. And I’m fairly sure, without having sampled the content, that it was less . . . fragrant than most of the cr@p that comes out of his filthy sewer of a mouth, too.
That is the most “intelligent” vapors SwalloWell has spewed since he burst on the “Impeach Scene” as the 3rd Stooge; i.e., Nadler, Sheriff Woody, SwalloWell, before Wackosi moved the Inquisition to Sheriff Woody and his merry band of “Mini Me’s”.
SPEAK, O toothless wonder!
The first act of a totalitarian state is to ban all guns. The second act is to ban free speech. It’s all down hill from there.
As far as I can see the ban on free speech is well on its way, especially if you don’t agree with the Democrat . Anybody that wants a gun can get a gun! A ban on guns will make the banger and bad guys that much more wealthy! They shouldn’t worry about legal gun owners, they are not shooting up gang parties.
Half the trash at the party was probably recently “first stepped” out of prison.
I agree Andrew! They need to go and get all guns from gang members and see if crimes fall! Yeah, that won’t happen because criminals will always find a gun when they want one. They don’t abide by our laws! And just as in England when they confiscated guns, knife crimes soared! If someone wants to kill, they will find a weapon! Remember Cain slew Abel with a rock!
Do you really think that the gang bangers are going to give up their weapons, GOOD LUCK on getting the bangers to give up their weapons !
Good luck on finding someone willing to go round them up.
The first act on the agenda of a totalitarian government is to disarm the citizens. The second act is to ban free speech. It’s all down hill from there. MAGA
When I was on active duty in the US Army (3 years as a commissioned officer in the Corps of Engineers) and then 3 years inactive reserves. Went in as a 2nd Lieutenant, came out as a Captain) marksmanship was a super strong suit for me. I fired Expert with the M-14, the M-16 and the 45 Calibre pistol. Despite my affinity for guns it never actually crossed my mind to own one. I left active duty 47 years ago. At this time my wife and I live in California. We have been here for 30 years. We are leaving the state, going back to our last home town, in Florida (we were both born and raised on Long Island). There are several reasons for our deciding to move. First of all, we would like to live, once again, in the United States. California simply does not qualify any longer. Now before some snowflake brands us as xenophobes or racists, we are neither. I don’t care who lives where I live, as long as they are decent people. But California, as a state, has gone nuts. Next, when the cost of buying a house is factored in, we can live, in Florida, on about 35% of what it costs to live in California. Finally, I intend to live in a state which will allow me to buy and carry, concealed weapons. In California the only civilians who are allowed to carry guns concealed are gang members and illegal aliens. In Florida, patriotic citizens have an easy time getting permitted. And so, as much as I like it here in California, which I do, and as much as I don’t like Florida, which I don’t. I want to live in a state that counts among its leadership the likes of DeSantis and Scott, and not Troglodytes like Pelosi, Newsome, Swallwell, Harris, and the person who holds the very roots of the evolution try in his claws, my ex-congress idiot, Adam Schiff. Florida ain’t perfect, but it is not NEARLY as bad a the Golden State.
CA needs to revise its laws and reinstate CAPITAL PUNISHMENT for such type shootings. As a matter of fact, we should take up some of the laws regarding using guns in crimes that Singapore has. They’re draconian.
“Okay anti-boomer.”
What this traitor doesn’t realize, (or probably actually does), is that it is the prior democratic party treason that is responsible for this and all other shootings. And he thinks that further treason will solve the problem?
It’s time for We The People to tell these traitors that they are THROUGH destroying our Constitution. We either make a stand, or we will soon wake up as slaves in the country our forebears gave their blood, sweat and tears to make free.
The politicians advocating more gun control and the people voting for them aren’t really against guns and violence. If you sit down and talk with them about how their laws will be enforced it readily becomes quite apparent. Many of them simply hope that the threat of economic ruin can be enough to convince gun owners to go along. If you don’t cooperate we’ll simply ruin you. But they know that guns and violence will, in the end, be required to reach their goals and they really have no problems with that. They simply don’t want to personally be involved. And they will all admit it. The truth simply is that guns and violence are justified when they are used to further THEIR agenda. And if that includes their neighbors, relatives, co-workers and countrymen, oh well.
“The truth simply is that guns and violence are justified when they are used to further THEIR agenda.”
And an even better truth simply is that guns and violence are justified when they are used to against traitor’s violating We The People’s Constitution and the rights secured by that instrument.
Our forefather’s would have put up with even half of what we have.
Klamath Falls Herald and News: Tuesday, September 27th, 2016/Letters To The Editor
Trump description would fit LBJ well
In her Sept. 20th letter Sandy Couch describes Donald Trump as “narcissistic and egotistical.” That is an accurate description of Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) , perhaps the worst president in American history.
Unfortunately, an issue doesn’t disappear simply because it’s been ignored, censored, covered up and concealed for decades. Also, the legacy of deceit, abuse of power, and political corruption that continues to curse America today! Case in point: “American Experience, “LBJ: Beautiful Texas/My Fellow Americans. A profile of Lyndon B. Johnson.” This recently aired on KSYS Channel 8.1 Aug. 15 and 16, respectively.
Consider the following the itemized links below:
Barr McClellan’s 2003 book: “Blood, Money, and Power: How LBJ Killed JFK”. Also posted at YouTube.
J. Evett Haley’s 1964 book: “A Texan Looks At Lyndon: A Study In Illegitimate Power.”
“How Persecution of American Christians Really Began in The US!” via the Constitution Party of Oregon (www.constitutionpartyoregon.net) posted under “Liberty In The News.”
Trump to Pastors: ‘Christians Have Been Silenced Like a Child” via Pat Robertson’s 700 club confronts the 1954 Johnson Amendment which remains blatant censorship.
“Lyndon Johnson Murdered John F. Kennedy” at YouTube. The oppressive 1968 Gun Control Act LBJ signed into federal legislation and its Nazi/ racist roots long since exposed by JPFO, Inc. at http://www.jpfo.org.
Finally, the Vietnam War (1961-1975). How LBJ and then Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara greatly escalated this “no win war” in Southeast Asia. And at a cost of 58,000 American lives. Lyndon B. Johnson likewise paved the way for Carter, Clinton, and Obama.And while Richard M. Nixon was no saint, he wasn’t even in the ballpark with Lyndon when it came to the above political atrocities, abuses, and crimes against the American people.
James A. Farmer, Ashland
Effective October 2016 a resident of Merrill, Oregon (Klamath County)
Long Live The State of Jefferson!
My response to E. David Quamman’s posted comment.
LBJ most definitely was a traitor on a grand scale.
Yes LBJ was indeed a criminal traitor! So was Ted Kennedy, Thomas Dodd (D): U.S. Senator from Connecticut and LBJ’s lieutenant, both the Earl Warren and Warren Burger Supreme Courts, and all these elitist socialist tyrants!
“never engage in a land war in Asia”…has always been good advice…but not always heeded…it’s like kicking an anthill…
Not too surprising; he looks dumb enough to say something that stupid.
He looks like a used car salesman who would sell you a vehicle with the odometer rolled back. A TRUE sleeseball look about him.
Well, he IS Democrat. What else can he say?
You think you found the flaw in our logic?
I, and the Chitcago Diocese, laugh in your face. Ha!
This tragic epidemic of Gun Violence is proof positive that we need more
civil rights violationsgun violence laws. Even the state that has the best gun safety obviously needs much more…Dems won’t be happy until they have all of the lessers back in chains…
they’re goal is to turn california into something approximating NYC when it pertains to guns…
Our betters in the Democratic Party insist there is a moral imperative for more gun control. Yet when Trump is about to flip-flop and call for UBC and red flag laws, the Democrats instead choose to pursue impeachment.
All they had to do was wait a week or two. It’s almost like they don’t really care.
The timing of said impeachment movements seems very…TIMELY. As in, the Democrat Party is having a field day with its “debates” as their candidates trip over each other to outdo the last guy as the most anti-gun candidate for the presidency, while the Republican Party has yet to field or even present any meaningful campaign efforts for Trump or potential replacements should the impeachment proceedings actually succeed (and it may be a long shot, but I’m not discounting it as impossible). The successful removal of a Republican president from the White House right before the presidential election campaigns are set to begin would be devastating to the Republican Party, which would have to work extremely hard, extremely quickly, to find and promote their choice for the next presidential election in about half the time that the Democrats have had to find and promote their choices. In my opinion, the impeachment process being pursued now is less about potential wrongdoings or poor judgement on the part of the current president, and more about stacking the deck and making a Hail Mary shot at securing the next presidential election by crippling the opposing party with the most damaging move that could be made for a party with the White House. Billionaire Bloomie is already showing how far a rich Democrat is willing to go to buy elections across the nation to enforce his gun control ideals despite holding no political office of any kind at the moment, and he definitely has the money to buy the presidential election should Trump be removed from office. At this point in time, a dick move like this would be about what I expect of the Democrat party in general.
or they’re just stupid…ample evidence of the latter…
He’s not stupid. He know the truth. Follow the money. Who’s making off this lie? Who’s getting some sort of kick-back? Do ya think drug money is involved? The useful idiots around him probably don’t know.
He’s probably the next Leland Yee.
“We have passed meaningful bipartisan gun safety legislation this year in Congress that Sen Mitch McConnell [R-Ky.] refuses to bring up in the Senate,”Methinks the good Representative doesn’t even know what the word “Congress” means.
Sounds like a California problem to me…. So let California deal with it… I think my earlier suggestion to build a wall around the state with no way in or out and then sweep the entire state north to south AND south to north door to door confiscating EVERY item that could be potentially used as a weapon is an ideal way to cover two problems at once, keep all the deserting rats with their liberal ideologies locked in preventing them from turning solid red states to purple and even blue AND show the rest of the country what not to do about gun (aka people) control and then sit back and wait until some enterprising criminal dreams up a new way to kill someone then ban that.. The ideal petri dish
Please lead the charge, MADD. The hundreds of thousands of gun-owning conservatives who live here will make sure you don’t get very far after you reach our areas.
And another one bites the dust.. BY “Hundreds of thousands of gun owning conservatives” I assume you mean the ones that KEEP electing these morons to state and federal office….. DO you HONESTLY believe that any fucking word I published in that post was SERIOUS… I realize that I have only been doing this particular site for less than a year but I believe I have made my TRUE position (AS A GUN OWNER AND ABSOLUTE ORIGINALIST SUPPORTER OF THE CONSTITUTION) quite clear… As I have previously stated to others who decided to attack me because I felt the situation was so fucking ridiculous that it did not deserve my serious attention, I most likely own more guns than you have ever seen in your entire lifetime (video games and bullshit movies do not count) and IF the gun owners of California were to ever come under such an all out assault I along with a small group of like minded individuals would be the first to rise to your aid with hundreds of guns and tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition.. If you are not familiar by now with my actual beliefs then I guess I might need to rethink my position on certain areas of support that I have been entertaining ever since I was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps in California in 1975…… I bailed on that shithole in 1985 and, over the years as an owner operator always dreaded when I got a load to the “Golden State” because of their Gestapo like DOT, I did not leave anything in California that I will ever miss (not even the few thousand dollars in bullshit fines) and I owe nothing to the STATE of California… I was a resident of Huntington Beach for 9 years when you could still elect a true conservative to office….
I WAS serious about keeping the RAT liberals locked in, assholes are ruining Texas and Florida with the same bullshit that they are supposedly leaving California and New York to get away from…
a vast state is much more difficult to control than an urban center…but they will continue to try…hoping to gain domination much like what they think they’ve achieved in New York state…
Point 1: CA already has UBCs.
Point 2: this happened in CA.
Conclusion 1: criminals don’t obey laws that are inconvenient for them.
Point 3: the UBC experiment has been run, thanks to California, and has failed to achieve the (stated) desired results. Repeatedly failed.
Conclusion 3:. UBCs are useless for their stated purpose, hampering only the law-abiding, and we should ridicule those still proposing a demonstrably dumb idea.
So can we please drop the UBC nonsense and go back to arguing about calibers now?
They look like a really bad televangelist couple. Like Jim and Tammy Faye if they’d stayed together into their 90s.
Jim Bakker is still on TV. His wife passed away but he’s still the pied piper to the gullible.
‘…he’s still the pied piper to the gullible.’
As are Nancy and Jim (Costa). In fact that was kind of my point, they just have faces that scream ‘I’m a crook and I’m going to waste your money for personal gain! For Jesus. Or the children, whichever.’
BTW, Tammy Faye left Jim Bakker’s sorry ass long before she died.
Yeah, but Jim replaced Tammy with Chuckles the Clown, and had him in make-up constantly. It was like Tammy never left.
Ahhh, the good ol’ PTL Club, Pass The Loot!!
Can we please just have a Calexit? Wouldn’t break my heart one bit.
The entire California “Central Valley” has for a very long time become a cesspool of violent gangs! Other areas of the state have always had their problems also but the Central Valley is unique in that the gangs grew from the problems of the agricultural farm workers. Mix that with the influx of drugs and weapons from the large “coastal cities” and the “backbone” of California was soon lost! Finally, overpopulation, overcrowding in the cities, water shortages and a long history of ineffective politicians making very bad policy choices for the state have destroyed both the state and the culture of California!
This article is based on lies. Fresno PD said the home was owned by a law-abiding family. Racist ass
“This article is based on lies. Fresno PD said the home was owned by a law-abiding family. Racist ass”
All it takes is ONE member of a law abiding family to get connections/alliances with a few gang members for this sort of thing to happen. The lesson here? Know the people you associate with.
Lay down with dogs, wake up with fleas.
The way gangs work is if you can’t hurt your enemy, you target family or friends of your enemy.
There is definitely no honor among thieves.
this wasn’t random…it was done to send a message to someone…in that context innocents are just collateral damage…
“Fresno PD said the home was owned by a law-abiding family. Racist ass”
Did the Fresno PD also mention anything about the family that lived in the house? I don’t see any reason to call them, or the Fresno PD racist ass.
Yeah, that would be so much easier than “gang control”! You’ve lost the war because of your inaction, quit trying to make us pay for your fu*k ups!
Ganbangers shooting ganbangers… I fail to see how vermin shooting vermin is anything other than a win-win.
I am touched how CA reps care so deeply for their gang members.
If they didn’t have the gangs around to line their pockets and keep the little people in line, they’d all be swinging from lap posts.
NO, I REFUSE.
Better think of something else.
MaddMaxx…….I used to think like you……that when the excrement hit the fan I would have the reserves to pass out and arm hundreds of my fellow patriots and save freedom, blah, blah, blah
But now I have come to believe if you didn’t buy a rifle in the last few years, if you don’t have ammo, (some food, a radio) YOU ARE JUST AN IDIOT. And why would I hand you a gun?
People say to me all the time, “ if the shit hits the fan I’ll come to your place”. To which I say “GREAT, we will need sandbags!”
Long past time for torches, pitchforks and auto rifles and demorat politicians hanging from lamp post supporting hungry crows.
Unconstitutional laws are VOID and if you haven’t sold your cloak and bought a rifle, you’re the same idiot with no gas when a fire comes your way, no food when the power goes out and just a government dependant parasite. Let FEMA take care of you.
And one more word of caution as we lead up to the festivities………..split up your guns and ammo into multiple locations………confiscation is coming……..crapifornia wil lead the way
In a SHTF situation, small arms and the related ammo become a valuable currency. Always a good idea to have several high quality guns and cases of ammo around. These items also come in handy to provide to family members who “see the light” of the 2nd A if sh!t goes sideways.
I keep numerous Walther P5s, Sig Sauer P6, and even a few HK P7s in my safe for this reason. Simple DA/SA with decoder and NO manual safety makes them ideal defensive firearms for those who are not well versed in firearm operation/handling.
Used LEO trade in guns are good to have around, ALWAYS. Paratus fortuna iuvat.
My apologies if I left the impression that I was the “Armorer”.. My guns and the ammo stash I have acquired are for my personal needs (mechanical things fail, and there is not always time to fix them), I have become associated with a small group of individuals that have also been “collecting” various firearms and ammo over the years and we have loosely formed a pact of sorts, knowing that each of us has served in one shooting conflict or another gives a slightly higher level of confidence in abilities and resolve than engaging with complete strangers…. As far as storage I have taken a number of precautions especially in the last 10 years or so to assure that when I need it my stuff will be available…..
So, if faced with seeing a family member succubing to a serious infection, you would not barter one of “your use only” firearms for antibiotics to save the family member? Really?
Also, with a need to separate a group of family friends to increase odds of survival, you would hord all “your use” arms for yourself?
Wow, the only predictable aspect of a SHTF situation is its UNPREDICTABILITY.
No armoror here, but proper utilization of available tools increases the odds of survival.
And if you KNEW everything you THINK you know about my situation and my “FAMILY” you would probably just STFU and take care of your own…. Not really confidant in your reading comprehension or your ability to put things in context (please refer to the initial set of posts) OR if you just spout off the first bullshit thing that pops into your head. My family is comprised of transportation specialists, builders, mechanics, farmers and medical professionals that know how to move shit and fix “stuff” as well as our people and our animals, most of the men are veterans a few are bona fide survivalists and we are all quite capable of working alone or together as the situation calls for.. I appreciate your concern for your fellow man but if I don’t know you and you haven’t taken the initiative to make sure you and yours are cared for that is your fucking bad luck.. when the resources must be accounted for to assure the survival of mine yours will be in deep shit…. Did you know that you can find antibiotics for animals at Tractor Supply and they are actually the same shit with a different name???
Wow, no need to be offended, these are only words.
If you don’t want to answer a hypothetical, don’t.
No need to jag off a profanity laced tyrade over a simple question.
I too am well prepared, with numerous veterans in my group of close friends, not that it has ANY bearing on the discussion.
Just lighten up Francis.
And FYI, My post was to John Halt you ASSHOLE, so GFY!
buy all you can…any way you can…and hide them everywhere you can….it’s really the only prudent response..don’t allow yourself to be disarmed….
The issue is gang culture violence. Until we start calling problems by their real names, there is no solution. However, this is the way the left plays their sick dishonest game. It’s never about actually addressing and solving real problems, its about creating a narrative (lie, excuse) that allows them to unconstitutionally and unlawfully seize power from citizens.
“The issue is gang culture violence.”
In whiny squealing voice: That’s raceees!!! All cultures are equal. All! Except, of course, for the white Christian culture, which is evil, opressive, intolerant, privileged and raceeees to the core.
(I’m so triggered right now, I need to go to my safe place and play with the play-dough.)
criminal gangs of all types and persuasions are now quite prevalent in California…and their influence is increasing….little by little they’re degenerating into an approximation of Mexico…
Nevermind the gang problem, lets blame guns instead…like ANY of the guns in the “hood” were legally obtained…
Just another emotional kneejerk reaction…
Gun control is about citizen control.
Always has been when they come for your gun aim steady and fire for effect
Time to register lunatics and gang bangers, plus all those convicted of a crime but not guns. People are the problem including most politicians.
So let me get this straight…
“Our state laws, as draconian as they are, can’t stop people from shooting each other, so I propose we impose those exact same laws on every citizen of the United States.”
Perhaps you should consider, Mr. Congresscritter, attempting to control the root cause of the problem rather than the shibboleth to which you cling so desperately,
Come on, we all know that the root of every problem is Trump!
How about hunting down and eliminating the gangs in your district?
At some point it will have to be done.
But they said they are NOT terrorists, only the N R A ,
& the well armed white man are the prob,,,
To the young & dumb, joining a gang sounds good,
Dodge a bullet once in a while, break all the laws you want with no consequence homie has your back,,,
Sounds like fun…
Gang bangers killing gang bangers: Win/Win!
Wouldn’t gang control make more sense?!!! Gangs control a lot of our cities. If gangs were elininated, a lot of our violence would be eliminated also. Isn’t gang violence a form of terrorism and don’t we have laws against it?
Interesting idea. What do you propose to fill the power vacuum left after those eliminated gangs? Because something will fill it one way or another.
you have to dedicate your efforts and resources to the task at hand…the country faced a similar dilemma back in the thirties…and eventually prevailed…forcing the criminal element into a lower profile….
Mass shooting – need more gun control
Gang violence – need more gun control
Gun sales too high – need more gun control
Raining outside – need more gun control
It’s Tuesday – need more gun control
Oh look, a puppy! – need more gun control
Talk about sounding like a broken record!
When you really want to disarm the citizenry in order to introduce the socialistic utopia against their will, everything is a good reason for gun control.
How about rounding up gang members you ^&^%#@#&^! What is somebody with you level of bassackwardsness doing in Congress?! Violence is people nut&^$%^&^&, not pieces of steel, plastic and wood.
The state of California is literally falling apart with massive homelessness, streets are littered with trash, drug needles and human waste, diseases like the bubonic plague and leprosy making a comeback along with the outta of control violent crime which they will do nothing about.
Seriously the LAPD cares more about arresting someone eating a sandwich than stopping someone shooting up heroin or squatting and using the bathroom on the sidewalk.
What more laws do they need when they refuse to enforce the numerous laws they already have.
I again repeat myself: “I haven’t seen an anti-gun politician yet who wasn’t a deceitful socialist treasonous left wing crook!” I have had a belly full of this elitist anti-gun “LBJ/KGB” class warfare shit aimed against American gun owners! When are the voters going to stop re-electing scum like this to our Congress: Both Houses and State Legislatures? Well over half of members of Congress historically can again be described in five blunt words: deceitful crooked immoral treasonous and socialist!
Interesting article. Your Opinion may vary.
News by VICE
Nearly All Mass Shooters Since 1966 Have Had 4 Things in Common
The largest study of mass shooters ever funded by the U.S. government reveals stunning information about perpetrators.
by David Noriega and Tess Owen
Nov 19 2019, 7:46am
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The stereotype of a mass shooter is a white male with a history of mental illness or domestic violence. While that may be anecdotally true, the largest single study of mass shooters ever funded by the U.S. government has found that nearly all mass shooters have four specific things in common.
A new Department of Justice-funded study of all mass shootings — killings of four or more people in a public place — since 1966 found that the shooters typically have an experience with childhood trauma, a personal crisis or specific grievance, and a “script” or examples that validate their feelings or provide a roadmap. And then there’s the fourth thing: access to a firearm.
The root cause of mass shootings is an intensely partisan debate, with one side blaming mental health and the others blaming guns. Researchers hope that the findings in the study could usher in a more holistic and evidence-based approach to the issue — and provide opportunities for policy action.
“Data is data,” said Jillian Peterson, a psychologist at Hamline University and co-author of the study. “Data isn’t political. Our hope is that it pushes these conversations further.”
The study, compiled by the Violence Project, a nonpartisan think tank dedicated to reducing violence in society, was published Tuesday and is the most comprehensive and detailed database of mass shooters to date, coded to 100 different variables. Its release comes less than a week after a teenage boy killed two students at his high school in Santa Clarita, California, before fatally shooting himself in the head.
The researchers used the FBI’s definition of a “mass murder” — four or more people killed, excluding the perpetrator — and applied it to shootings in one public place. The dataset stretches back to August 1, 1966, when a former Marine opened fire from an observation deck at the University of Texas, killing 15 people. It wasn’t the first mass shooting in the U.S., but researchers chose it as a starting point because it was the first to be substantively covered on radio and TV.
The database delivers a number of arresting findings. Mass shootings are becoming much more frequent and deadly: Of the 167 incidents the researchers logged in that 53-year period, 20% have occurred in the last five years, and half since 2000.
They’re also increasingly motivated by racial, religious, or misogynist hatred, particularly the ones that occurred in the past five years.
And in an era when tightening gun laws, including background checks, is a national political issue, the study found that more than half of all mass shooters in the database obtained their guns legally.
But researchers said they were particularly struck by how many mass shooters displayed symptoms of being in some sort of crisis prior to the shooting. “Those are opportunities for prevention,” said Peterson.
5 profiles of mass shooters
Experts have long cautioned that there is no single profile for a mass shooter. But the Violence Project researchers found some personal characteristics often align with certain types of locations targeted by shooters, and created five general categories:
K-12 shooters: White males, typically students or former students of the school, with a history of trauma. Most are suicidal, plan their crime extensively, and make others aware of their plans at some point before the shooting. They use multiple guns that they typically steal from a family member.
College and university shooters: Non-white males who are current students of the university, are suicidal, and have a history of violence and childhood trauma. They typically use legally obtained handguns and leave behind some sort of manifesto.
Workplace shooters: Fortysomething males without a specific racial profile. Most are employees of their targeted location, often a blue-collar job site, and have some grievance against the workplace. They use legally purchased handguns and assault rifles.
Place of worship shooters: White males in their 40s, typically motivated by hate or domestic violence that spills out into public. Their crimes typically involve little planning.
Shooters at a commercial location (such as a store or restaurant): White men in their 30s with a violent history and criminal record. They typically have no connection to the targeted location and use a single, legally obtained firearm. About a third show evidence of a “thought disorder,” a term for a mental health condition, like schizophrenia, that results in disorganized thinking, paranoia, or delusions.
Hate on the rise
The study shows that the number of shooters who are motivated by racism, religious hate, and misogyny have increased since the 1960s — most dramatically in the last five years.
Since 2015, hate-fueled shootings targeting black churchgoers in Charleston, Jews at synagogues in Pittsburgh and Poway, women at a yoga studio in Tallahassee, and Latinos at a Walmart in El Paso, have dominated national headlines and added another layer of complexity to the problem of mass violence in America.
Between 1966 and 2000, there were 75 mass shootings. Of those, 9% were motivated by racism, 1% by religious hatred, and 7% by misogyny. Of the 32 mass shootings that have occurred in the U.S. just since 2015, 18% were motivated by racism, 15% by religious hatred, and 21% by misogyny.
The increase in ideologically motivated mass shootings has coincided with the emergence of a newly emboldened far right, who’ve forged national and even international alliances of hate online. The sharp rise in misogyny-inspired shootings also squares with the rise of the “Incels,” short for “involuntarily celibate,” an online subculture comprised of angry young men who deeply resent and blame women for their isolation.
Mental health is a factor — but rarely the cause
Two-thirds of the mass shooters in the database had a documented history of mental health problems. While this seems high, researchers point out that roughly 50% of Americans have experienced some kind of mental health problem at some point in their lives.
Moreover, the percentage of shooters whose crimes were directly motivated by the symptoms of a mental disorder (such as delusions or hallucinations caused by psychosis) is much smaller: roughly 16%. That is a smaller percentage than shooters motivated by hate, a workplace grievance, or an interpersonal conflict.
“If someone has a mental health history, I think we’ve gotten in the habit of blaming that for their actions,” said Peterson. “But someone can have, say, depression, and it’s not like everything they do is driven by that.”
That said, the study found strong links between suicidal motivations and mass shootings. Nearly 70% of shooters were suicidal before or during the shooting, and the numbers are even higher for school shooters.
These findings could have powerful implications for public policy, according to the researchers. “This shows us that there are opportunities for intervention — this doesn’t just happen out of the blue,” Peterson said.
“We know a lot more about suicide prevention than we do about this issue, and we know what works — things like limiting access to weapons, directly asking the question, connecting people with outside resources, not talking about it in the news.”
Seeking out fame
The percentage of shooters driven by a desire for fame has risen substantially in the last five years, the study found. In the first 15 years of the 21st century, some 3% of perpetrators were motivated by the desire to go down in history as a mass shooter.
Between 2015 and 2019, that number jumped to 12%.
One specific motivator for fame-seekers remains strangely persistent through the years: the Columbine High School massacre.
There had been many mass shootings and even school shootings before, but Columbine, which took place in 1999 at a public high school in Littleton, Colorado, redefined the school shooting as a media spectacle. The chaotic scene outside the school was broadcast live for several hours before the perpetrators were found to have died by suicide, the shooters left an extensive record of their plans and motives.
Columbine’s influence is so great that the study even found that fame-seeking as a motive for mass shootings was largely confined to the American West: 70% of fame-seeking shootings took place in the region. (By comparison, the researchers found no mass shootings in the Northeast directly motivated by fame-seeking.)
How they got their guns
Nearly half the mass shooters in the database purchased their gun legally. Thirteen percent obtained their gun via “theft,” which includes borrowing from friends or family members. School shooters — overwhelmingly young — were most likely to acquire their guns in this manner. Researchers said that this particular data point could bolster arguments for legislation requiring safe storage of firearms.
Handguns were by far the most common firearm used in mass shootings, and were used three times the rate of shotguns, rifles, or assault rifles.
Assault rifles were banned in 1994 during the Clinton Administration, but the federal ban expired a decade later and gun manufacturers pounced on the opportunity to re-market military-style firearms to civilians.
Researchers said that there had been a statistically significant increase of assault rifle use in mass shootings in the last five years, which has also coincided with shootings becoming more deadly.
Interesting….But…..
I still can’t go to my local FFL and buy an assault rifle. I wouldn’t event want one if I could. I see no point in it. But I was under the impression that assault rifles were NFA and were banned from civilian use well before Clinton’s 94 ban. I just don’t see any real connection with any kind of rifle. Now, people sometimes use the juvenile excuse “because I can” or “because it’s what’s there”. I think the AR is just a convenient boogie man for the fears that people seem to have.
With this study beginning in the 60’s, we are at a point where heavy illegal narcotics has become generational since then.
I have a hard time believing Hollywood, Washington DC, Social Media, and over glorifying a culture of death doesn’t fuel into the problem.
In the recent past, DC seems to have takin a dramatic turn for the worse since Obama got elected. But honestly, I feel the insanity of Washington started to intensify after 9/11. It it is rather obvious they of gone off the rails into lunacy. Tell me this isn’t having a negative impact on American society.
Well aren’t you just another CADAPO?
For about the 900th and last time. Im calling not for Kalifornia to quit the Union. But its time for us to kick them out
Its a godforsaken hell hole of a sad state that just keeps spreading its diseased idiotic thoughts everywhere they go. If they want to jump off a cliff. I want to help push them off.
I just read this. WE all know they don’t have air fit to breath in Kalifornia. So this is really going to help????
CALIFORNIA TO STOP BUYING FROM TOYOTA, GM, OTHER AUTOMAKERS THAT BACKED TRUMP IN EMISSIONS FIGHT.
Fighting Trump over air. Whats next???
There’s a reason why they keep burning down, and it ain’t “climate change”.
Where’s that BIG ONE they keep teasing us with?
It’s like when they call for Mandatory vaccines after a recently vaccinated kid sheds and gives the infection to another vaccinated kid. The healthy unvaccinated kids take the blame.
And he is back. Hey, PG, still can’t find the anti vaxxer site?
Many of the posters here are too dumb to keep their firearms. The gun grabbers are playing chess against mentally challenged monkeys.
No! Say it aint so!!!
A gun controlista in the democrat party?
…from California????
will wonders never cease.
Request denied, asshole.
Eat shit and die.
With all due respect.
Wait.
I thought the Dems were against mass incarceration.
Months ago, they were bashing the 1994 Crime Bill.
Now they want to make the problem worse.
Yeah, that’s right!
Take MY guns away and you’ll curb the gang activity.
NOT!!
Jim Costa, that will only make the gangs more effective.
Who’s side are you on?
If the plethora of California gun control laws could not keep this from happening, how could the same national laws keep it from happening?
CA created these people – failed to take them off the streets – people move but drag their filth elsewhere. STOP THEM before they ruin your town.
I’d like to know how many of the people involved in the shooting are American citizens? Or are they children of illegal immigrants? Are the Shooters and victims illegal aliens?
How many times have they already been arrested?
I doubt the Press, Liberal or Libertarian press care to even ask these questions.
Just take away all guns, knives, & acid from just the gangs! If you are a member of a street gang it’s jail time for 3 years. Next time its double etc
when guns are outlawed,only outlaws will have guns.this is self explanatory.any legislator that wants to pass gun laws,should be immediately removed from office,for going against the US Constitution.this should become a national law.
As a retired law enforcement officer I see no need for more stupid laws on the books to punish those who use and carry guns legally. The laws in place now are not enforced by the criminal courts due to plea bargaining and overcrowding of jails and prisons. Enforce the laws currently on your own books California and not try to make laws across the U.S.
IT is time that we react with integrity and vision.
First, we know that gangs will not obey the law to begin with so no diminishment of 2A will help in this case.
We also KNOW that in every study performed since the 1950’s it has been PROVEN that there is NO DIRECT correlation of legal gun ownership of any gun type or ammunition type and murder by gun is any more prevalent than murder by pipe wrench.
HOWEVER in current recent studies it has been PROVEN without and beyond any doubt that the amount and type of coverage by media CREATES repeated activity. These studies prove not only a direct correlation to media coverage and mass killings by gun but actually ACCURATELY PREDICT how soon it will happen under what circumstances.
So, the NEW question is: IF we are to diminish a Constitutional Right, should we allow the diminishing of individual Rights that have no correlation to the events that are undesirable, OR should we diminish the Corporate rights of big business that is actually causing DEATHS by the way it operates?
If you doubt my words note the actions in Singapore. SG noted that media coverage of SUICIDE created repeated incidents of suicide. SG made media coverage of suicide ILLEGAL. Since then suicide in SG has been reduced EXPONENTIALLY.
gang control…not gun control
One of the FIRST things that Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Castro, Un did under their rule was to take away all firearms from the law abiding citizens. A little secret that the liberal idiots don’t ever seem to understand is that the criminals are ALREADY breaking the laws that they already passed.
Correct, almost all genocide begins with the disarmament of the intended victims:
GOVERNMENT DATE TARGET # MURDERED (EST.) DATE OF GUN CONTROL LAW SOURCE
Ottoman Turkey 1915-1917 Armenians 1-1.5 million 1886-1911 Art. 166 Penal Code
Soviet Union 1929-1953 Anti-Communists 20 million 1929 Art. 182 Penal Code
Nazi Germany 1933-1945 Jews, Gypsies, 13 million 1928-1938 Law on Firearms &
& Occupied Europe Anti-Nazis Ammunition, April 12
Weapons Law, March 18
China 1949-1952 Anti- Communists 20 million 1935-1957 Arts. 186-7, Penal Code
Rural Populations 1957-1960 Art. 9, Security Law,
Pro-Reform Groups 1966-1976
Guatemala 1960-1981 Maya Indians 100,000 1871-1964 Decree 36, Nov 25
Decree 283, Oct 27
Uganda 1971-1979 Christians 300,000 1955-1970 Firearms Ordinance
Political Rivals Firearms Act
Cambodia 1975-1979 Educated Persons 1 million 1956 Arts. 322-8, Penal Code
A legible table can be found here: http://www.shall-not-be-infringed.org/gun-control-and-genocide/
If you look hard enough you can find a “silver-lining” in almost anything. These “gang-bangers” took six other violent gang-bangers off the streets. It appears they actually did more to lower the crime rate in that district than their Governor obviously has.
I’ve read this in many posts here. “Play stupid games win stupid prizes.” Well here is slight twist on that. Stupid people keep electing stupid lawmakers and you get stupid laws.
Problems are being made where there is no problems just so politicians can be heroes and solve the problem.
Life holds no promises, death is opposite, it promises hell or heaven. So you’re not a believer, your problem. But, just so you know there is no escape from death, no matter what is believed or not. Everyone wants to live long and prosper, but again death is a natural occurrence, so in trying to save lives you can’t forget about living.
People a hell of a lot smarter than any of the recent past and present elected officials wrote a document on par with nothing except the bible, koran, etc.
It would really be great if for some miracle to happen and those elected had at least a third grade reading comprehension skill.
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