According to James Alan Fox, a criminologist at Northeastern University who oversees the Associated Press/USA TODAY mass killing database, there has been a roughly 50% decrease in major gun violence this year compared to last.
In terms of criminality, "good news is no news." "Mass shootings, defined as four or more shots, deaths, or survivors, have decreased by 48% this year," Fox said on X, the previous Twitter platform.
"What rises must inevitably fall; I refer to this as Newton's Law of Crime Statistics. Mass shooting peaks often coincide with corrective falls, much like the overall murder rate "Fox sent an email to The Center Square.
"There really is no epidemic of mass shootings; the epidemic in the level of fear that is way out of proportion with the risk," he said.
He contends that the media presents a false picture of mass shootings since the majority of them do not result in many deaths, despite reporting hundreds of instances of mass gun violence annually.
Former National Rifle Association president David Keene concurs that coverage of mass shootings in the media presents these incidents as commonplace, even if they often use weapons similar to the AR-15.
"Long guns, including so called assault weapons have never been the real problem; the mentally disturbed and criminals are the problem, but the media demonizes the gun rather than those who misuse it," Keene said to The Center Square.
FBI crime statistics show that although over 10,000 killings occur in the US annually, only a small number of them include rifles of any sort, including so-called "assault weapons."
In terms of criminality, "good news is no news." "Mass shootings, defined as four or more shots, deaths, or survivors, have decreased by 48% this year," Fox said on X, the previous Twitter platform.
"What rises must inevitably fall; I refer to this as Newton's Law of Crime Statistics. Mass shooting peaks often coincide with corrective falls, much like the overall murder rate "Fox sent an email to The Center Square.
"There really is no epidemic of mass shootings; the epidemic in the level of fear that is way out of proportion with the risk," he said.
He contends that the media presents a false picture of mass shootings since the majority of them do not result in many deaths, despite reporting hundreds of instances of mass gun violence annually.
Former National Rifle Association president David Keene concurs that coverage of mass shootings in the media presents these incidents as commonplace, even if they often use weapons similar to the AR-15.
"Long guns, including so called assault weapons have never been the real problem; the mentally disturbed and criminals are the problem, but the media demonizes the gun rather than those who misuse it," Keene said to The Center Square.
FBI crime statistics show that although over 10,000 killings occur in the US annually, only a small number of them include rifles of any sort, including so-called "assault weapons."
