Sixteen US Mass Shootings Happened in 2012, Leaving at Least 88 Dead

[Hissyspit]

http://www.thenation.com/blog/171774/sixteen-us-mass-shootings-happened-2012-leaving-least-88-dead

Sixteen US Mass Shootings Happened in 2012, Leaving at Least 88 Dead

George Zornick on December 14, 2012 - 4:18 PM ET

Today’s nearly indescribable tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, where twenty-seven people, including eighteen children, were shot to death inside an elementary school, is at least the sixteenth mass shooting to take place in America this year. The death toll is now at eighty-four.

Here is a list of every fatal mass shooting that’s taken place since January 1—defined as multi-victim shootings where those killed were chosen indiscriminately. The tragedies took place at perfectly random places—at churches, movie theatres, soccer tournaments, spas, courthouses and, now, an elementary school. But given the frequency of these awful events, perhaps in the long view their occurrence isn’t so random after all—it’s predictable.

February 22, 2012—Five people were killed in at a Korean health spa in Norcross, Georgia, when a man got into an argument and opened fire inside the facility.

February 26, 2012—Multiple gunmen began firing into a nightclub crown in Jackson, Tennessee, killing one person and injuring 20 others.

MORE AT LINK (of course)[p]

[niyad]

1. sadly, the year is not over yet. the portland shooting was just a few days ago.

[madville]

2. They never mention the hundreds of black and Hispanic people killed in Chicago every year

To the media, white people getting shot or doing the shooting=tragedy. Hispanic or black people getting shot doesn't even make the news.

[vaberella]

3. It's mainly because it's rare for Black or Hispanics to have mass shootings.

I've never heard of one anyway. Not to mention in many Black/Hispanic schools they have metal detectors.

[madville]

11. There are mass shootings all the time

The media refers to it as "gang violence".

[vaberella]

19. True...should I rephrase it...

You rarely hear of one person walking into an area and killing a mass amount of innocent children. The most recent one happened in New Jersey I think at a Walmart---but then again he was also mentally ill as well after losing his mother. But he was one of the first Black men I have heard of in many similar shootings like this in the US. It's not very common. Nor has it happened in our schools. Although it disgusts me, I will say that it's mainly because we have a lot of cops and metal detectors in our schools. Gang violence is completely different to this sort of gun violence. There are sometimes innocent bystanders hurt but gang violence has no innocents at either end of the gun.

[XemaSab]

24. You read the reports from gun murders in Oakland?

There are innocent bystanders all the time.

Here's a particularly depressing story from a few months ago:

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2012/08/09/teen-mom-killed-in-east-oakland-shooting/

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2012/08/10/teen-mom-gunned-down-in-oakland-had-difficult-life/

[muriel_volestrangler]

21. 4 of those listed incidents were black shooters with significant numbers of black victims

February 26, 2012—Multiple gunmen began firing into a nightclub crown in Jackson, Tennessee, killing one person and injuring 20 others. (Identity: http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2012/mar/14/suspect-was-on-parole/ )

March 31, 2012—A gunman opened fire on a crowd of mourners at a North Miami, Florida, funeral home, killing two people and injuring 12 others. (victim identity: http://miami.cbslocal.com/2012/03/31/2-dead-12-hurt-in-mass-shooting-in-north-miami/ ; this was said to be 'gang related', but I can't find anyone being arrested for it)

July 9, 2012—At a soccer tournament in Wilmington, Delaware, three people were killed, including a 16-year-old player and the event organizer, when multiple gunmen began firing shots, apparently targeting the organizer. (identities: http://data.delawareonline.com/webapps/crime/147/shootout-eden-park-soccer-game-leaves-three-dead/ )

October 21, 2012—45-year-old Radcliffe Frankin Haughton shot three women to death, including his wife, Zina Haughton, and injured four others at a spa in Brookfield, Wisconsin, before killing himself.

And one was white murderers with black victims:

April 6, 2012—Two men went on a deadly shooting spree in Tulsa, Oklahoma, shooting black men at random in an apparently racially motivated attack. Three men died and two were wounded.

[alcibiades_mystery]

4. It's an epidemic, and we need to treat it as a public health issue

[Initech]

5. One is unacceptable. But sixteen???? Holy fuck. Go to hell NRA.

[myrna minx]

6. Fuck the NRA and their apologists.

[Freddie Stubbs]

7. 32,367 died in auto accidents last year

[WorseBeforeBetter]

8. "Accidents" being the operative word. These gun slaughters...

were not accidents.

[Freddie Stubbs]

9. But they resulted in far less loss of life

[WorseBeforeBetter]

10. That's cold comfort.

Autos are a necessity for many of us; guns are not.

[pipoman]

12. Ah, so no guns = no desire or ability to kill a bunch of people?

[WorseBeforeBetter]

14. We'll never get rid of all guns.

But we can restrict access to certain types. And address why we're such a violent first world nation.

[pipoman]

17. What types?

I don't think there is a constitutional way to restrict any type which isn't already restricted.

[Zoeisright]

23. Oh my god you are disgusting.

Go crawl back under your rock, troll.

[ProSense]

20. How completely idiotic!

I remember Republicans opposing a law targeting children with a treatable, but rare birth defect citing the number affected.

Is there anyone opposed to making cars safer and reducing car accidents?

This is the problem with gun violence: people talk past each other and hold up absolutely ridiculous analogies showing little regard for the victims.

It's time to stop the madness.

[Zoeisright]

22. So fucking what?

Cars have another purpose.

Guns don't. This false equivalency is fucking stupid.

Christ on a crutch.

[pipoman]

13. This is the result of a mental health disaster..

Almost every time one of these occurs there are people in the killer's life who have sought mental health services for the person and was denied. The real issue is that people can't get needed treatment until they committed a crime and are in custody or if they are wealthy and can afford the treatment..thank you Raygun for dismantling, through defunding, assistance to states for mental health services.

Yep, this is the result of a society who refuses to deal with mental illness until it is too late.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

15. (Possible) mental health disorder + easy access to guns = disaster.

The two need to be addressed in tandem.

[pipoman]

16. The latter would be taken care of by the former

there is already in place a prohibition on people who are mentally ill. They are supposed to be reported to NICS which results in denials for firearms purchases. No, most gun control isn't going to happen any time soon..mental health and addiction services should never been discontinued and is the underlying problem with many criminal issues.

[Fumesucker]

18. If you think America is going to spend more money on mental health care you could probably use some

If it can't be fixed with more prisons and more cops it's not going to happen.

Cops and prisons, the mental health care system white people don't mind paying for.

[Lizzie Poppet]

26. Sadly, you're probably right.

We* don't give a shit about metal healthcare. It's not as profitable as medical/surgical care...

And by "we," I mean the 1%,,,

[Lizzie Poppet]

25. Out of c. 10k gun-related homicides.

That doesn't mean the mass shootings aren't horrific or that the victims aren't just as worthy of our grief, etc. but it should put things in perspective. As a public safety concern, mass shootings are incredibly rare in comparison to "regular" homicides. In terms of formulating public policy, the latter are obviously the greater consideration. Not to say we don't address spree killings...but where does it make more sense to start?

Of course, a lot of those conventional homicides happened to brown people, poor people, even people with criminal records...so who cares, right?