Since Sandy Hook, of misinformation and counterpoints

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Bartholomew Roberts

Moderator
CNN Reduces School Shootings by 80% in One Year!

Just by doing a little thing called "journalism":
http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/11/us/school-shootings-cnn-number/index.html?hpt=hp_c2

Short version: CNN, after repeatedly quoting the "74 school shootings since Newtown" number uncritically, decided to actually investigate the press releases from Bloomberg's Everytown that they had been quoting and discovered that only 15 school shootings had occurred. The remainder were more common crimes being lumped into the number because they occurred around schools.
 
Since the most recent school shootings in Oregon, there has been a graphic floating around the internet claiming 74 school shootings since the Sandy Hook tragedy.

For folks interested, CNN has surprisingly stepped up and scrutinized that claim and provided some clarification. While there have been 74 instances of firearm discharges in schools since Sandy Hook, it appears the number of cases where it was similar to the Oregon incident (intent to harm children and/or indiscriminate violence) is significantly smaller - closer to 15. The remainder are person to person arguments, attempted suicide, accidental, or gang related. That is, not intentionally seeking to harm children.

Does it make it less disturbing that the number is 15 instead of 74? No, of course not. But it provides information that allows us to take stock and look for real solutions without kowtowing to fear-mongering, knee-jerk reactions.
 
Even if you take the 74 at face value, there are just shy of 100,000 schools in the USA. That means there have been shootings at 0.074% of schools and the odds of it happening at any given school on any given day would be somewhere around 0.0154%, 1:6500
 
I'll use the same logic i use with anti-gunners: statistics mean nothing if you're the victim. This to say I don't care if the stats are 1:65 if my kids are in the school where a shooting is gong down. Likewise, I don't care if the odds are very low that I might be the victim of a home invasion if I am in one. The debate comes down to this: Do you want dangerous liberty or would you rather have safe tyranny?
 
statistics mean nothing if you're the victim.
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Of course they don't, but they mean a lot when the Antis are arguing that this is happening more and more or we're getting more violent, etc, etc. They're telling lies and should be exposed as such.

Do you want dangerous liberty or would you rather have safe tyranny?
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Even that's a false choice, since no tyranny (or free condition or anything else) has ever or will ever produce safety.
 
Do you want dangerous liberty or would you rather have safe tyranny?
Even that's a false choice, since no tyranny (or free condition or anything else) has ever or will ever produce safety.

There are no guarantees in life but we exist in a society now where generations have been raised to believe that the world owes them something. It's all about me and every problem has an instant solution ergo the rampant mismanagement of prescription drugs to young males.

These people will give up anything to satisfy their own selfish needs. They reside to accept that evil cannot be reasoned with nor can it be explained nor can you totally prepare for it. These people have been coddled all their lives and have never been forced to sacrifice or make do and as such they are willing to give up anything to maintain their comfort level.

You'll never win a debate with them and it's not worth the trouble. It is imperative that we elect politicians with a respect for liberty.
 
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Good. When I first read the figure of over 70 school shootings in the last year I did not trust it. Particularly as it came out a day or two after a more through report that said the numbers for the same had been steady since 2001 and low. Similar to the numbers for crime as a whole.

To lump all shootings that occur in the vicinity of a school together under the heading of "school shootings" is profoundly and purposely misleading. The term "school shootings" is a loaded one and conjures up images of Sandy Hook. It is dishonest to lump a drug deal in a school yard gone bad after school closes or a gang fight at midnight a block from a school together with an actual "school shooting" or mass shooting.

These are similar to the figures for the over 30,000 "victims of gun violence" stats thrown around. Which in some cases are not drawn from actual figures but from estimates. They also lump together suicides, murders, accidents, estimates of the number of police shootings, minor injuries, etc.

tipoc
 
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