Eight fictions about gun control

Fiction 7: Gun Control Reduces Mass Murders

For purposes of statistical analysis, we must be wary of how “child” is defined in order to identify relevant crime data.

Oxford English Dictionary (OED) defines the word “childhood” as: “The time from birth to puberty.” OED defines “puberty” as: “The period during which adolescents reach sexual maturity and become capable of reproduction, distinguished by the appearance of secondary sexual characteristics.” There seems to be general agreement that puberty completes by age 15, so children are ages 0-14.*

The FBI gives domestic violence its own category. One FBI study showed that while overall violent crime rates were declining, domestic violence rates increased. Perhaps nothing creates a destructive explosion like feelings of betrayal mixed with passions like lust, attachment, and anger. Violently powerful emotions may explain why 54% of all child mass murder victims occur during domestic violence.

Children are more likely to be killed by a stranger during non-domestic mass murders, as happened in Newtown, Connecticut. Ron Borsch notes: “The number one copycat target of the active killer is schools (38%, includes pre-school and K-12).” With the exception of 2004 and 2006, these incidents occur 7 to 8 times annually in the U.S., with an average of 2.5 child victims per incident…