- cross-posted to:
- [email protected]
- cross-posted to:
- [email protected]
Summary
A new study from the University of Colorado Boulder finds that 7% of U.S. adults have witnessed a mass shooting, and over 2% have been injured in one.
Researchers define mass shootings as incidents where four or more people are shot in public spaces. With nearly 5,000 such events since 2014, experts stress the need for public health strategies to address the psychological and physical impacts.
The study highlights how mass shootings are not isolated events but a widespread issue affecting millions of Americans.
That’s seems high. I know way more than 15 people and none of them have seen a mass shooting
Unfortunately, it’s a self-reported study. While there is a lot of math used in self-reporting to account for people who lie or misunderstand the question, the results likely aren’t reproducible.
Self-reported studies can be helpful in some ways but they have deep limitations on accuracy as opposed to “feels.”
Arguably, without mass surveillance and access to data from mass surveillance, there really isn’t another good way to find out who was in physical proximity to a mass shooting other than self-reporting.
The question seems open to interpretation (which is bad for surveys like this).
If I visit a location that was the site of a mass shooting a few years later, have I been “physically present on the scene of a mass shooting”?
I think you could reasonably answer yes: you’ve been to the physical place where it happened, even if not at the time it happened.
I’m sure somewhere in the questionnaire the definitions of mass shooting and physically present were presented to respondents, but once again, lying or misunderstanding the question is definitely a possibility.
Depressing counterpoint: some people know a whole schools worth of people who has seen a mass shooting.
Awful. Headline number still seems high when there’s hundreds of millions in the USA.
considering theres an average of 1 school shooting per week and another couple hundred of mass shootings per year in america, it seems quite believable to me, especially since one shooting can have hundreds of witnesses.
Fair point
Hi, my name is sp3ctr4l, good to meet you!
A few years back, I was walking along a sidewalk, heading home from a bar, approaching within 100 feet of a group of people.
But, before I got too close, a car came screaming down the road from in front of me, and then slowed way down as it got parallel with the group.
… And then a krink (AK pistol) emerged from a window, magazine emptied, whole lot of blood curdling screaming and possibly some return fire (sounded like a different caliber) as I dove through some hedges for cover.
Thats a mass shooting, I could have been shot, perhaps now maybe you could say you know me.
“But that’s gang violence, it doesn’t count.”
- some people, for whatever reason
It almost certainly was some kind of gang or drug dealer territory kind of dispute… but yeah, it waa definitionally a mass shooting, but I guess mass shootings only happen if most of the victims are white and not poor, because uh…
Anyway, I did manage to scramble away, have a panic attack, then call 911, ambulances got there in 10 minutes, cops were seemingly already nearbh and blazed past before I even made the 911 call.
… another insane part was that as I was scrambling away, around a block and down a hill, having a panic and/or heart attack…
… there’s a very preppy looking guy walking a little yappy dog, up the hill, with ear buds in.
He pulls one out and asks ‘Was that a car backfiring?’
I respond, gasping for air: ‘NO. GUNSHOTS. DRIVEBY. Get InSIDE!’
… this guy then looks at me in disgust like I just called him a slur, puts his earbud back in, jauntily continues walking up the hill toward a bunch of screaming, injured people.
Sure, ok buddy, I’m the asshole, yep.
-.-
This all occured in an area where a very wealthy neighborhood and a pretty poor one meet.
Guess this asshat didn’t realize the lines separating his neighborhood from… the 'hood… had just been redrawn.