There's been a lot of talk about gun violence for, well, decades. I've found many on both sides of the discussion to be more uninformed than those with strong opinions should be. For that reason, I've been writing this series on guns and gun violence, adding new entries as I think they're needed in the hopes of educating both sides of the debate.
What makes me more knowledgeable on guns than the average person? I'm a 30+ year competitive shooter and former firearms instructor, who holds a USPSA Master classification and a PPC High Master ranking. I've owned many of the controversial guns being discussed, perform my own ammunition load development, and lived through the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban. As a data driven, reformed conservative, I let facts take me wherever they lead.
About the data: Unless otherwise noted, my sources are consistent across the series. For mass homicides, I use Mother Jones database, Gun Violence Archive for mass shootings, and FBI reports for everything else. I don't "cook" anything to support a predetermined narrative. I use the FBI definition for mass homicides and choose meaningful time windows (i.e. five years, ten years, from 2000 onward, etc.)
My AR-15 figures include all other semiautomatic rifles, such as MCX, AK47, AR-10, etc.
This post will serve as the directory of all the posts in the series. I've broken the posts into three chunks;
The Core, which I think contains the most valuable information
The AR-15 Section, which contains additional information on the AR-15, beyond the entry in the Core
Others - These posts contain what I think to be value (or I wouldn't have written them), but wouldn't necessarily view them as "must read".
As always, your feedback is welcome.
Core
Is a short introduction to me, along with my background.
Why does the US have so many guns? Why are they so interwoven with American society? This entry takes a semi sociological and historical view of the subject.
Provides a thorough and objective analysis of gun homicides; historical, by weapon type, and by incident type. How many deaths occur during mass events? If you read one entry, make it this one.
Yeah, it's not that simple. A deep dive into some interesting stats.
Some insight into the differences and similarities.
Why do we care about some and not others?
Everything you wanted to know, or should know, about the platform. Are there legitimate reasons to own an AR-15 (or other semiautomatic rifle)? How evil is the gun?
What happens if we try to ban guns? This one also applies to subsets of guns, such as semiautomatic rifles.
Or at least deal with the symptoms, since no one seems to care about the core issues.
This is a unique take I found in an article I thought I'd share.
The AR-15 Section
This is a companion piece to the above entry that provides insight on why some guns are well suited to self-defense.
What measures did it include and how did that impact gun violence?
What would they think of the gun? Also, some food for thought on their danger.
This one provides an explanation of pistol braces and whether they matter.
Others
What does it really mean? A review from a historical context perspective.
"Only a good guy with a gun can stop a bad guy with a gun." Does the old saying stand up to reality?
Going full auto with your Glock has become way too easy.
Specifically, what do we hold them accountable for?
Your numbers in the last chart don't add up (the sub-numbers should add up to ~total) -- why?
ReplyDeleteI left out shotguns and other / unknown firearms. The "Rifles from unknown" uses the ratio of known firearm types to add in a calculated rifle number. I didn't do that with handguns, because most of the focus is on assault rifles.
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