Everytown.org has done an analysis of of mass shootings in the US, between January 2009 and July 2014, ostensibly using FBI data and definitions. There is also an interactive feature.
I'll look through the full report and the data set later, but that interactive feature is interesting. it makes claims that, if true, are going to give me some things to think about. However, based on this claim, I have my doubts about their even-handedness:
Certainly that demonstrates sensationalism, but both sides indulge in sensationalism.
If nothing else, should provide a few days' worth of exciting discourse!
I like how they said "disproportionately", as if that is a significant number.
Then they give the fact: 51% of victims are women.
51% to 49% is not "disproportionate." It's "nearly 1-to-1."
In contrast to gun violence generally, perpetrators of mass shootings disproportionately target women. Whereas only 14% of total gun homicide victims are women, 51% of mass shooting victims are women.So, basically, they are trying to say that, statistically, they expect the number of women killed in mass shootings to be close to the same ratio of women in all shootings.
Comparing apples to oranges often result in skewed results.
They are comparing mass shootings in public places with a random distribution of men and women to gang shootings, domestic violence shootings, accidental shootings, crimes in which both criminals and victims are killed, etc. OF COURSE there will be fewer women in the overall population of gun deaths when you look at who normally is involved in these incidents.
