Mass Shootings: The Epidemic That Isn’t

By Tom Knighton

While it certainly seems like mass shootings are reaching epidemic proportions, they’re not. While the frequency of them may have increased over the last year or so, many on the pro-gun side have been quick to point out that they’re still not the “epidemic” they’re being portrayed as.

Still, the media persists in perpetuating the myth.

In fairness, us saying something doesn’t exactly make it so. However, when a criminologist–someone who actually studies crime and crime statistics–says it’s not an epidemic, folks might want to listen.

But Northeastern University criminologist James Alan Fox, the leading researcher on the topic for the past 35 years, tells Reason, “There is no evidence that we are in the midst of an epidemic of mass shootings.” The number of incidents and casualties are simply too small to make such claims and, he stresses, the media coverage of shootings often ends up creating a false sense that gun violence—which is at or near historic lows—is ubiquitous and growing.

So why does the media do it?

The answer is simple. They do it because we live in a world where clicks drive revenue.

Once, people picked up the newspaper because they wanted to see what was in the …Read the Rest

Source:: Bearing Arms