Lots of guns don't necessarily mean lots of shootings, as you can see in Israel and S

[Samson]

As David Lamp writes at Cato, "In Israel and Switzerland, for example, a license to possess guns is available on demand to every law-abiding adult, and guns are easily obtainable in both nations. Both countries also allow widespread carrying of concealed firearms, and yet, admits Dr. Arthur Kellerman, one of the foremost medical advocates of gun control, Switzerland and Israel 'have rates of homicide that are low despite rates of home firearm ownership that are at least as high as those in the United States.'"

I would usually argue that both Israel and Switzerland have relatively small, homogeneous populations, however,

Eleven of the 20 worst mass shootings in the last 50 years took place in the United States. In second place is Finland, with two entries

I thought socialist Finland was perfect, with LOTS of publically funded psychiatric care...

 

[waltky]

Last 7 years sees over 900 killed in mass shootings...

Mass shootings toll exceeds 900 in past seven years
February 22, 2013 - More than 900 people died in mass shootings during the past seven years, and a majority of them were killed by people they knew, according to a USA TODAY analysis of gun-related slayings.

The 934 deaths account for less than 1% of all gun-related homicides, and nearly half involve a suspect slaying his or her family members, the detailed examination shows. USA TODAY combed through FBI records and news accounts to identify 146 mass shootings since 2006 that matched the FBI definition of mass shooting, where four or more people were killed. A separate analysis of 56 mass shootings since 2009 provided to USA TODAY by a group of mayors promoting gun control reaches similar conclusions. More than half – 57% – of cases examined by Mayors Against Illegal Guns involved domestic violence. The group, co-founded by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, is made up of more than 850 U.S. mayors. "Mass shootings … are the tragedies that capture the public's attention," Mark Glaze, director of Mayors Against Illegal Guns said Thursday. "But every day, 33 Americans are being killed, mostly with handguns and distressingly often, by a family member or intimate partner."

The new data come as federal and local policymakers attempt to address gun violence in the wake of the Dec. 14 mass shooting in Newtown, Conn., that killed 20 schoolchildren and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Public revulsion over the massacre has spurred Congress to weigh a renewal of the federal assault-weapons ban and consider other gun-control measures, including a ban on magazines that exceed 10 rounds. The mayors' group, which has joined other gun-control organizations to push for sweeping changes to federal and state firearms policies, views extending background checks on all gun buyers as a key tool in reducing gun violence. The goal is to reach private gun sales not covered by the current system, which applies only to federally licensed dealers.

Mass killings
A USA TODAY analysis of FBI records has identified 186 mass killings since 2006. That includes 146 mass shootings, which are defined by the FBI as incidents where four or more people are killed. Nearly half of those involved someone killing family members.

The effort to close the private-sales loophole is gaining traction in Congress, where a bipartisan group of lawmakers that includes conservative Republican Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., is crafting legislation. The plan is opposed by the National Rifle Association. Its president, David Keene, said this week that the powerful lobbying group is prepared to punish lawmakers who vote to expand background checks. NRA Vice President Wayne LaPierre plans to unveil anti-background-check advertising Saturday. Although they account for just a minuscule share of all homicides, mass killings occur about once every two weeks. More than three quarters involve a gun.

In all, 934 people have died in mass shootings over the past seven years, the USA TODAY analysis shows. In the 71 shootings that involved someone killing his or her family members, 376 victims died. Most of those killings occurred at home. Dozens more were killed by acquaintances, neighbors and co-workers. The mayors' study also notes that just three of the 56 incidents examined by their researchers took place in schools or colleges. The USA TODAY analysis included all the events in the mayors' study, but also dozens of others. FBI homicide records, supplied by local police, are incomplete and do not include cases from states such as Florida, which the newspaper added to its study. Experts on mass killings say finding the right mix of policy measures to end the violence is hard.

Grant Duwe, director of research at the Minnesota Department of Corrections who has studied mass shootings, said making an effort to identify and treat people at risk of committing gun violence could be a key tool in reducing the slayings. In nearly 60% of the mass public shootings that occurred in the last century, officials found signs of mental illness, he said. But Northeastern University criminologist James Alan Fox said offering better mental health care is no cure-all. "Mass murderers won't take you up on treatment. "They tend to externalize and blame other people for their problems," he said. "They blame the spouse, the co-workers, immigrants. They feel persecuted. "The kind of crime which motivates you to take action is often the kind of crime least impacted by the things we want to do," Fox added. "The only consolation is that it is a rare event."

Source

See also:

Biden: ‘There’s a moral price to be paid for inaction’ on guns
Thursday, February 21, 2013 - Speaking at a university in Connecticut mere miles from where the December Newtown school shootings took place, Vice President Joseph R. Biden urged legislators across the country Thursday to move on gun control, warning that “there’s a moral price to be paid for inaction.”

Mr. Biden, who Mr. Obama tapped to head a task force on gun violence after the shooting deaths of 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, said politicians must be willing to speak for the fallen, now voiceless, victims of gun violence. “I can imagine how we will be judged as a society if we do nothing,” he said after addressing parents of victims and saying he wished he had their courage. Mr. Biden lost his wife, Neila, and one-year-old daughter Naomi in a car accident in December of 1972, just weeks after being elected to the U.S. Senate at the age of 29. “When I think about all the courage you’ve shown, it’s not too much to ask the political establishment, members of Congress, Democrats and Republicans, state legislators, governors, to show some political courage, too,” Mr. Biden told the crowd at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury.

Mr. Biden reiterated a call for the administration’s ambitious gun control package, which includes bans on so-called assault weapons and high-capacity magazines and background checks on virtually all gun sales. He was joined on the trip by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. Gov. Dannel Malloy used the conference, organized by members of the state’s congressional delegation, to outline new proposals from his own office that would tighten Connecticut’s gun laws by requiring universal background checks, tracking the sale of ammunition as well as firearms, and limiting magazine capacity to 10 rounds or less, among other provisions. “The Sandy Hook tragedy happened in a school, but we don’t want the next time … [to] happen in a movie theater or a shopping mall or [at] a ball game or on a street corner, for that matter, in any one of Connecticut’s cities or towns,” Mr. Malloy said.

Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who has proposed a bill that would require people who purchase ammunition to undergo background checks through the FBI’s instant check system, said Newtown fundamentally altered the political landscape on the gun issue. “A ban on assault weapons and large-capacity magazines is achievable,” he said. “Preventing gun violence was thought to be untouchable politically two months ago. But that unspeakable horror has given us unstoppable momentum, and we must seize this historic moment.” A poll released by the Pew Research Center Thursday showed that 83 percent of Americans favor universal background checks on private gun sales, 56 percent favor a ban on high-capacity ammunition magazines and 53 percent favor a ban on so-called assault weapons. The survey of 1,504 adults conducted from Feb. 13-18 has a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points.

Chris and Lynn McDonnell, who lost their daughter Grace in the December 14 shootings, were part of a morning panel discussion on gun violence that was moderated by Mr. Blumenthal. “After that day, I made a promise to her that I would be her voice,” Ms. McDonnell said. “We promised Grace that we would be fearless in our efforts.” A second forum, moderated by newly elected Democratic Sen. Christopher Murphy, tackled the issue of mental health and mental illness, with panelists acknowledging the fine line between allowing access to information about potentially dangerous individuals and stigmatizing the mentally ill. Dr. Philip Wang, deputy director of the National Institute of Mental Health, pointed out that just 3.5 percent of all acts of violence are committed by the mentally ill, and they’re much more likely to do harm to themselves than to others. Dr. Kathryn Seifert, a youth and family violence expert, said violent media and games affect children living in vulnerable environments more than it affects children who live in stable households. “Parents need to choose carefully what children have access to,” she said. “Children who are vulnerable should have no access to violent media.”

Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news...ce-to-pay-for-inaction-on-guns/#ixzz2LnvuBNo1

 

[TheOldSchool]

I thought socialist Finland was perfect, with LOTS of publically funded psychiatric care...

If you go to Finland you'll understand why they need so much psychiatric care. Imagine if Seattle only had Fall and Winter, and was obsessed with heavy metal. No amount of socialism or capitalism could remedy that horror

 

[Spoonman]

even in the USA. when you look at the total number of guns and the total number of shootings it is only a very small percentage. it comes out to .000028 guns actually are used in a homicide.