Does reading a lot of Wikipedia give people a wrong idea how science works?

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

In general, people in the UK are not allowed to have guns, our last mass school shooting was 27 years ago (Dunblane) after which the already strict gun laws were made even stricter. The USA seems to have around one every month, I know where I would feel safer.

And where do people in Europe feel safe?

In Croatia, a country with relatively loose gun laws.

You’ve posted this stupid map before. It’s completely irrelevant to the issue of gun violence, for reasons already explained to you.

Boru

[FlatAssembler]

And where do people in Europe feel safe?

In Croatia, a country with relatively loose gun laws.

You’ve posted this stupid map before. It’s completely irrelevant to the issue of gun violence, for reasons already explained to you.

Boru

@zebo-the-fat claimed that gun control makes people feel safe. That is blatantly wrong, as shown by that map. Whether it makes people safer is another question.

[FlatAssembler]

Most mass shootings do not happen in the United States. United States also isn't the country with most mass-shootings per capita, those are Norway and Macedonia.
I mean, hardly any mass shooting happens in a shooting range, where most people are armed. Mass shootings tend to happen in places such as theaters and cinemas, where people are not allowed to have guns.

It's not a 'per capita' issue. The US has had 500+ mass shootings so far this year. 

Boru

How the hell is it not a "per capita" issue? Of course Croatia is going to have far fewer mass shootings than the US when it has 100 times less people. Croatia had 3 mass shootings in three days this July, and I don't know if it had any more this year, so that would correspond to 3*100=300 US mass shootings.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

You’ve posted this stupid map before. It’s completely irrelevant to the issue of gun violence, for reasons already explained to you.

Boru

@zebo-the-fat claimed that gun control makes people feel safe. That is blatantly wrong, as shown by that map. Whether it makes people safer is another question.

But you're not providing any data on whether guns laws add to the perception of safety - there may be other factors which make people feel safe or unsafe while walking along at night.

Boru

[FlatAssembler]

So, if the possibility of getting fatally shot doesn't act as a deterrent... What makes you think having a small penalty to pay for illegally owning a gun would act as a deterrent?

Think it through. People who commit mass shootings have never, EVER known who else might or might not be armed (contrary to your misinformation, most mass shootings happen out of doors, not in cinemas), yet mass shootings keep happening.

I don’t think that. I don’t recall ever thinking that.

I think a large penalty and significant prison time for illegally owning a gun might help.

Boru

But that's still a way smaller penalty than getting fatally shot.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

It's not a 'per capita' issue. The US has had 500+ mass shootings so far this year. 

Boru

How the hell is it not a "per capita" issue? Of course Croatia is going to have far fewer mass shootings than the US when it has 100 times less people. Croatia had 3 mass shootings in three days this July, and I don't know if it had any more this year, so that would correspond to 3*100=300 US mass shootings.

Because I said the US had the most mass shootings, not the highest rate of mass shootings.

Boru

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Think it through. People who commit mass shootings have never, EVER known who else might or might not be armed (contrary to your misinformation, most mass shootings happen out of doors, not in cinemas), yet mass shootings keep happening.

I don’t think that. I don’t recall ever thinking that.

I think a large penalty and significant prison time for illegally owning a gun might help.

Boru

But that's still a way smaller penalty than getting fatally shot.

The size of the penalty isn't at issue, but the deterrence of a given penalty. People who don't care if they get fatally shot are - surprise! - not going to be deterred by the prospect of getting fatally shot.

Boru

[zebo-the-fat]

I cannot imagine living a place so frightening that I felt I needed to cary a gun to feel safe, it must be horrible.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

I cannot imagine living a place so frightening that I felt I needed to cary a gun to feel safe, it must be horrible.

FA ‘logic’: If you carry a gun, you’ll never get shot. If more people had guns, fewer people would get shot. If everyone had a gun, no one would ever get shot.

Boru

[FlatAssembler]

How do you explain the fact that Switzerland, a country where the government gives a gun to every male at the age between 18 and 65, doesn't have a lot of mass shootings?

Those guns are issued as part of military reserve service, and can be withdrawn at any time upon the holder showing unstable mentality. That might play a part. Additionally, I'm sure that, being military, they undergo psychological evaluation before being inducted.

That's a far cry from American nutjobs.

A question in my own turn: do you think that it's a coincidence that the most gun-saturated culture in the world also has the most gun deaths not associated with civil war?

But you need to understand that having a diagnosed mental illness is not a good predictor of being a mass shooter. Here is a left-wing journal admitting that: https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/mo...ntally-ill