Wednesday, January 09, 2013

Rob Beachy on Mass Shootings


Rob Beachy came up with an interesting premises.  "Could it possibly be that we have always had multiple killings over the years but they did not receive the publicity that they do now because of mass media? Rob did a study on Mass shootings and crime rates and even submitted a graph to illustrate his point: FBI statistics on the US Homicide Rate (per 100,000) 1950-2007. I made it into a chart for easier viewing. It shows some interesting data. 2009 was on par with the mid 60's. I did not expect to see the rise and fall like it shows. Is this the result of efforts to eliminate violent crime? Federal assault rifle ban was 1994-2004. I would say this pretty much shows what I was getting at. If I was to guess, based on news reports, I would expect the line to be headed up and up. Thanks Rob for your remarks and chart.