The Mass Shooting Myth about America

Most of us have heard the statement that America leads the world in mass shooting deaths. This has been the narrative for some time now. President Obama stated in 2015, “At some point, we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries.” Again, this sentiment was echoed by Sen. Harry Reid when referencing a mass shooting that, “The United States is the only advanced country where this kind of mass violence occurs.”

This narrative has been propagandized and pushed via the media and liberal politicians for years, but it is a myth.

The myth stems from a study done by a University of Alabama associate professor Adam Lankford. John Lott had looked at the data and utilizing Lankford’s definition for mass shootings which is, “Four or more killed,” found over 3,000 such shootings, where Lankford had a total of 202 with America being responsible for 90 of those.

Here is a sample of the data from Lott’s findings.

You can see that there are many countries above the United States in this study.

The question is who is right, Lott or Lankford? Generally, there would be a discussion between scholars and their methodologies hashed out. However, in this case Lankford isn’t talking. Can you imagine he refuses to explain his findings to anyone? Could it be because he lying? Lott refers to Lankford as practicing “academic malpractice.”

This erroneous study was rapidly disseminated around the country and became the accepted truth for most American’s.

The article that I am referencing here is from the Foundation for Economic Education or FEE, and it cites a very disturbing cause for the spreading of such disinformation.

Here is a direct quote from the article:

“This is an unsettling and ill omen for liberty. As Lawrence Reed has observed, the road to authoritarianism is paved with a “careless, cavalier, and subjective attitude toward truth.” Yet that is precisely what we see with increasing frequency in mass media. (Need I reference the Covington debacle and the Smollet hoax?).”

Mark Twain had stated that, “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.” This is no doubt true today.

Make no mistake about it. The authoritarian’s and tyrants can only implement their socialist utopian green agenda with a disarmed populace, and they will stop at nothing to get there. Lying and creating false studies are a small part of the “by any means necessary approach” to force their collectivist will upon us. We have to remain vigilant on every front.

To read more on this myth and its creation along with Lott’s rebuttal, please read the article from FEE.

You can find it here.