2. Many gun control measures are not likely to be helpful.
Over 90 percent of public mass shootings take place in “gun-free zones” where civilians are not permitted to carry firearms.
A complete ban on “assault weapons” will save very few lives: Six out of every 10 mass public shootings are carried out by handguns alone, while only one in 10 is committed with a rifle alone.
The average age of mass public shooters is 34, which means that increasing the minimum age for purchasing firearms would not target the main perpetrators of mass public shootings.
Few mass public shooters have used “high-capacity magazines,” and there is no evidence that the lethality of their attacks would have been affected by delays of two to four seconds to switch magazines. In fact, some of the largest mass shootings in U.S. history were carried out with “low-capacity” weapons:
4. The United States does not have an extraordinary problem with mass public shootings compared to other developed countries.
After adjusting for population differences, many other developed countries have worse problems with mass public shootings than the United States has.
There were 27 percent more casualties per capita from mass public shootings in the European Union than in the U.S. from 2009 to 2015.
6 Reasons Gun Control Will Not Solve Mass Killings
Over 90 percent of public mass shootings take place in “gun-free zones” where civilians are not permitted to carry firearms.
A complete ban on “assault weapons” will save very few lives: Six out of every 10 mass public shootings are carried out by handguns alone, while only one in 10 is committed with a rifle alone.
The average age of mass public shooters is 34, which means that increasing the minimum age for purchasing firearms would not target the main perpetrators of mass public shootings.
Few mass public shooters have used “high-capacity magazines,” and there is no evidence that the lethality of their attacks would have been affected by delays of two to four seconds to switch magazines. In fact, some of the largest mass shootings in U.S. history were carried out with “low-capacity” weapons:
- The Virginia Tech shooter killed 32 and injured 17 with two handguns, one of which had a 10-round magazine and the other a 15-round magazine. He simply brought 19 extra magazines.
- Twenty-three people were killed and another 20 injured in a Killeen, Texas, cafeteria by a man with two 9mm handguns, capable of maximums of 15-round and 17-round magazines, respectively.
- A mentally disturbed man armed with two handguns and a shotgun shot and killed 21 people in a San Ysidro McDonald’s and injured another 19. The handguns utilized 13-round and 20-round magazines, and the shotgun had a five-round capacity.
4. The United States does not have an extraordinary problem with mass public shootings compared to other developed countries.
After adjusting for population differences, many other developed countries have worse problems with mass public shootings than the United States has.
There were 27 percent more casualties per capita from mass public shootings in the European Union than in the U.S. from 2009 to 2015.
6 Reasons Gun Control Will Not Solve Mass Killings
