Just this morning, Newsweek published an article covering the Gun Violence Archives’ latest claim that mass shootings are up 35 percent in 2020 compared to mass shootings in 2019:
Mass shootings in the U.S. have increased by 35 percent since 2019 despite widespread closures of schools, businesses and many public places due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In 2019 the Gun Violence Archive (GVA) found that there were 417 mass shootings over the course of the whole year in the U.S. But in 2020 there has already been 562 mass shootings with 6 weeks left until the end of the year.
The number also comes as a huge rise compared to mass shooting numbers from the last five years. The GVA recorded 269 in 2014, 335 in 2015, 382 in 2016, 346 in 2017, and 337 in 2018.
It’s worth noting Newsweek did admit GVA doesn’t have the best methods of tracking what they refer to as “mass shootings:”
. . . the research organization has an open definition of mass shootings as four or more people shot and/or killed in a single incident at the same general time and location but not including the shooter.
GVA does not “exclude, set apart, caveat, or differentiate” victims based upon the circumstances in which they were shot – including defensive gun use – so their mass shooting data is not limited to the often widely publicized incidents that occur in public places like schools and restaurants.
From the Gun Violence Archive website:
Rather than just collecting incidents of death, GVA also catalogs incidents where a victim was injured by shooting or by a victim who was the subject of an armed robber or home invader. Incidents of defensive gun use, home owners who stop a home invasion, store clerks who stop a robbery, individuals who stop an assault or rape with a gun are also collected.
The overall goal is to provide information on most types of gun violence, and gun crime, no matter where it is on the political table.
What does this cover? Well, among other things the GVA tracks the following:
. . . murder/suicides, hate crimes, domestic violence, gang involvement, drug involvement, police action, robbery, defensive use, accidents, brandishing, and nearly 120 other possible variables.
. . . all types of shootings are included…accidental, children shooting themselves, murders, armed robberies, familicide, mass shootings, DGU, home invasion, drivebys and everything else.
Also interesting is GVA notes their methods of tracking shootings broadened in July 2019. Prior to that they were utilizing 2,500 to 3,000 sources and now they use more than 7,500 sources to track their definition of mass shootings.
Newsweek went on to hypothesize about gun violence in 2020 by quoting Dr. Dewey Cornell, forensic clinical psychologist and Professor of Education in the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia:
[Dr. Cornell] told Newsweek there are two hypotheses that could explain the rise in numbers, namely an increase in domestic violence during lockdown and more violence around demonstrations.
“My first hypothesis would be that there is an increase in domestic violence,” he said. “With so many people confined to their homes, there may be greater stress and conflict that is generating these incidents.” He added that firearms in the home during a pandemic is “a serious risk factor.”
Cornell added that his second hypothesis points towards the numerous incidents of rioting and protests where shootings occurred, saying “the violence around demonstrations is probably a secondary contributing factor.”
What do y’all think? Has there been an increase in “mass shootings” in 2020 and, if so, is it domestic violence, “mostly peaceful demonstrations,” or what do you think is the greatest contributing factor?
“Mass Shootings Up 35 Percent”
I thought it was because of Covid restrictions, but this might be the real reason why fewer people are going to Mass.
Was there any geographical and socioeconomic breakdown of the events and where the increases were reported?
Gang members still have to ply their trade. And scores still have to he settled.
I couldn’t tell if Ralph was playing off of Massachusetts, or Christian Mass with that one…
I think Ralph was being sarcastic and bad at it. Or a bad attempt at a joke.
“the research organization has an open definition of mass shootings as four or more people shot and/or killed in a single incident at the same general time and location but not including the shooter.”
The FBI says 4 or more killed (injured doesn’t count) in one incident at one place, not including the shooter.
Mother Jones goes 3 or more killed, but does include those injured.
www dot motherjones dot com/politics/2012/12/mass-shootings-mother-jones-full-data/
There was exactly ONE mass shooting this year, the Molson Coors shooting in Milwaukee.
In the Summer of BLM, it gets tabulated as a Mass Shooting when a gang of Marxist terrorists tries to murder one 17 year old.
FOS doesn’t cover this diatribe…do they count Black Looters Murdering?!?
Remember…some of the BLM chapter leaders already declared that they intend to “burn it all down” if they don’t get everything they demand. Their words, not mine. When Trump wins his re-election and the lollipop gets taken away from the Left *just* as they think it’s finally in their hands, there will indeed be burning, looting, and all the rest.
Stay frosty. Build your preps and safeguard your family.
The Democrats will discard their once allies as they have served their purpose.
“When Trump wins his re-election and the lollipop gets taken away”
How about a friendly wager to make it interesting?
How about a gentleman’s wager? If Joe Biden ends up being formally inaugurated for the next term, I will congratulate you the same day for winning the bet, and will refrain from any posts on TTAG for the next three consecutive days to allow you free reign of the forum for the duration. If Trump is inaugurated, you instead will do this.
Thanks again One Term Impeached Donny Dotard!
How is it that Donny contributed to Antifa/BLM rioting or gang violence numbers? The Democratic Party mayors where there was rioting and increased gang crime refused federal help, a situation that was exacerbated by several states or cities enacting “catch and release” no bail systems that put dangerous people back on the street the same day of their arrest. The DA in Portland refuses to charge Antifa protesters with anything, and they too get right back out on the street for their nightly rampage against the police.So I cannot conceive of any basis you have for your ascription of responsibility to purely local, non-federal issues.
You are talking to an NPC.
Dog bites are on the rise, bite numbers have gone up 20,000 %. They count every single bite given in training Police, Military and K-9 personal protection training. They would go so far as to count each individual tooth that hit it’s target, and include all home bites of dog toys and tennis balls, and just to pile on include every single bite dogs take of the daily food intake.
These people are absolutely INSANE. The greatest thing about Trump is he made all the cockroaches scatter. They cannot hide themselves. TDS is a real thing. Collectively, they were not taken seriously. People made excuses for their irrational behavior. Not now. They are open and while not honest at all about anything else, they are true about who they always have been.
I believe that non-fraud related business insurance claims for arson have dramatically increased in 2020. Does Dr. Dewey Cornell have a hypothesis for this?
Not surprising considering the rioting, looting and killing brought to America by the likes of Black Looters Murdering and ANTIFA. Count on it worsting under the malfeasance of the DemoCommies with the guidance of Joe Braindead and Kami the Commie hoe.
Stress levels are sky-high with people out of work and the stress of the election. I’m not surprised it’s happening.
And if a few state houses look at evidence of a rigged election and decide to direct their electors to vote for Trump in the Electoral Collage, things will get very ‘spicy’… 🙂
Horseshit. Covid lockdowns deprived media of their bread-and butter high-profile but rare shootings involving schools, concerts, malls etc. So they invent new parameters and then trot out some “scientific” speculative hypotheses, starring Dr. Dewey Douchewagon, who has no clue regarding domestic violence stats during 2020 lockdown.
Doesn’t matter. Gotta pump up those rookie mass shooting numbers.
The biggest factor in this new number is the collective leftist fever dream. They can’t *not* cook it up.
What?
Does not have to do with various cities defunding their police departments does it?
Little to no response from the police. Releasing “non-violent” offenders from prison. Zero bail. Could these be factors affecting the rise in criminal activity?
So… shooting up the waiting line of cars at a Covid testing site is the new hotness or something?
My first hypothesis is that the gun violence archive has bullshit data that misleads people into thinking gang banger deaths are random mass shootings from unknown assailants.
That’s not a bug. It is a feature. The implied message if this is caused by guns, it will go away when the guns go away.
The intention is to create a perception this violence is getting worse and extreme measures are needed.
I am hoping my tax dollars do not pay for this. I am probably left to be disappointed.
If you examine the actual data on multiple victim shootings that is available in the FBI SUPPLEMENTARY HOMICIDE REPORTS, you will find a few interesting details.
Multiple victim shootings are far less common than shootings by multiple perpetrators. This is why there is a legitimate need for pistols with high capacity magazines to engage multiple assailants.
Most of the multiple victim shootings are not committed by your stereotypical, crazed White boy. Most shootings of multiple victims are committed by African Americans, either individually or as groups.
The most common circumstances for multiple victim shootings are gang or drug related, not random mass shootings.
“Gun Violence” is not a thing that exists. It is imaginary. It is a statement of belief, or preference, of wishing it were so.
We do not have “Sharp Stick Violence”.
We do not have “Hammer & Miscellaneous Hand Tool Violence”.
We do not have “Arrows, Spears, Swords & Knives” Violence”.
We do not have “Blunt Object Violence”
All of the above re things, they are not alive. They no volition of their own, they do not think up and carryout an act of will or of sudden emotional drives. Things no more commit an act of violence than they do an act of peace.
What we have is Human Violence. That is what is real. humans have will, have volition, have both thoughtful and thoughtless actions as a constant potential within themselves.
All claims that things cause the violence that people do are incorrect, unscientific, illogical, possibly Hoplophobic and generally dumber than a box of MAGA hats…. or a box of nails…. 🙂
I see Trump sent his thugs to beat up a bunch of peaceful Biden supporters. Oh wait a minute that was the Democrats’ corp of Sturmabteilung beating up Trump supportes.
You think hats and nails are sentient beings? Do they talk to you?
Really? I would’ve thought if there was even close to a mass shooting, it would be wall to wall coverage, and blamed on the current administration.
That’s how you know this number is 100% pure flowing excrement. If there had been any mass shootings, we’d all know it whether we wanted to or not.
It’s kinda funny how those things stopped the second the covid restrictions hit. There aren’t any large gatherings of helpless victims for the psychos to prey on, so the anti-gun ghouls don’t have their usual blood to dance in — plus the authoritarians have a bigger, shinier excuse for mass control with the pandemic panic.
This new set of bogus numbers is a gap-filler; the pandemic won’t last forever, so they’re planting a continuous trail of “evidence” to point to when they inevitably raise the mass-shooting narrative from the grave.
No, no Ing.
The fact that it wasn’t heavily reported is how you know it’s TRUE.
Now, off to your room. 20 Hail Marys, 50 Our Fathers and 5000 “Russian Interferences” until you get this right! Actually, skip the Catholic stuff and make it 10,000 Russian Interferences, Comrade!
“He gazed up at the enormous face. Forty years it had taken him to learn what kind of smile was hidden beneath the dark moustache. O cruel, needless misunderstanding! O stubborn, self-willed exile from the loving breast! Two gin-scented tears trickled down the sides of his nose. But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself.”
“He loved Big Brother.”
Who knew that ‘1984’ by George Orwell was an instruction manual, and not just a novel?
I did all of that in advance, including the Two Minutes’ Hate of Donald Emmanuel Trump-Goldstein. I don’t want to get shot in the back of the neck while the yellow note plays. I love Big Brother.
They’re counting gang shootings. It’s quite dishonest.
Jon in CO:
Yeah. I don’t believe it either.
Looking at Heyjackass I think the increase is a result of anti-police activism. The increase in the number of Chicagoans who have been murdered since the end of May compared to last year is greater than the total number of Chicagoans killed by police this century.
Once the Dims take Georgia and gut the 2nd it will be ban time. Then the REAL sh*tstorm begins.
When avoiding reporting of the current leftist issues with honesty, integrity and civility, these organizations must fill the news void by claiming guns bad, racists everywhere and mass shootings out of control.
It’s all about headlines to support suppression of individual rights. There will be more of this to come.
Take chiraq out of the mix and the numbers improve greatly.
What exactly is considered to be a “mass shooting”? Seems to me that the term is being used quite loosely.
Theory 1: Statistics are gathered by partisan, biased hacks with an antigun agenda. Note that this site’s stats are an order of magnitude greater than official sources, like the FBI.
Cornell is an idiot and talking out his ass. For domestic violence to count (4+ victims), there would need to be families of a least 5. Parents taking out children, or kids taking out parents, is going to make the news, and I haven’t noticed any such stories. Even a few adults shot is an extended family would be headline-worthy, and the antis would be pointing to it and dancing in the blood of the victims to promote their agenda, especially in an election year. We’re very aware of protest/riot shootings here, and neither NFAC and Kyle had casualties high enough to qualify. The rest were singles.
In other words, Newsweek expanded their criteria by 2x for mass shootings in 2020, and then made the claim that mass shootings are up since 2019.
Where I come from, that is called “fabrication.” Stephen Glass was fired from The New Republic, and permanently blacklisted from journalism, for doing the exact same thing (There is a very good film about him called “Shattered Glass”, which actually featured an excellent performance by Hayden Christensen. He is actually a decent actor when he doesn’t have to say “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!”)
Now it’s to the point that ANY shooting incident is to be considered a “mass shooting”…kinda like ANY death, natural or otherwise is being attributed to coronavirus…