When did the term "Mass Shooting" come into favor?

[NobullSKS]

Mass murder is defined by the FBI in their Uniform Crime Reports as killings of more than 3 persons, not sure what exactly terms they used to get there but it's usually like this, single homicide, double, triple, then mass killing or murder or homicide. Never "mass shootings" in the UCR. However... it's because they recognized bombings and mass poisonings in the past, so that's pretty fair I however do remember "mass shootings" being reported during the early 2000s after "school shootings", when the media decided to include mass murders/attempted mass murders that happened outside school proper... ?

I overheard on a news broadcast…. Can't remember… may 2A YouTube chnl. Some states actually only need 3 injured by gunfire…. No strictly death. Maybe a way for them to justify the fearful headlines. Either way….. who's agenda is it to divide and scare?

 

[Koda]

The terms, "mass murder" and "mass shooting" were both used by the press in connection with the Charles Whitman episode in Austin, TX in 1966. So in that sense, they aren't relatively recent inventions.

From what Ive read they were called "shooting sprees" back in those days, the FBI reported that way on the Whitman shooting.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

From what Ive read they were called "shooting sprees" back in those days, the FBI reported that way on the Whitman shooting.

I remember them using that term for sure.

 

[dancinghippos]

From what Ive read they were called "shooting sprees" back in those days, the FBI reported that way on the Whitman shooting.

And the people controlling the narrative want you to associate that image with the term "mass shooting" so you will think America has hundreds of spree shooter events every year. That's the plan. There are a shrinking number of media outlets that will even let the true difference between gang shootings and spree shootings be heard. It may be more effective to print definitions and descriptions of the two on flyers and put them out in laundromats.

 

[Hooyah DeepSea]

NO, no kidding at all!! It's all in there.

 

[titsonritz]

Actually, the term came into 'play' after the Cleveland Elementary shooting (San Diego) when Brenda Spencer, shooting from her house near the school, killed two and injured 9, with a .22 rifle. It is the incident that inspired the song "I don't like Mondays" by the Boomtown Rats.

I'm surprised CA hasn't released that crazy biotch yet.

 

[MichaelH]

FWIW, I'm not radically 2A and IF some regulation would legitimately prevent gun violence without unduly burdening my rights I might not oppose it. I also think the MSM is conservative, not liberal so I don't view the slant and reporting on gun issues as being specifically liberal, rather it appeals to the average viewer/news consumer.

With those disclosures in mind, I think the term "mass shooting" and law enforcement definition is not accurately descriptive, overly broad, and suggests a much worse problem than there is. From the public perspective most people are concerned about gun crimes where the shooter uses a gun to only kill people either at random, or people known with a trival or insane motivation (workplace or schools), OR terrorism. These sorts of shootings are happening more often now than in the past, but are still relatively rare and only a small percentage of gun injuries and deaths.

Those kind of shootings, in my opinion, are completely different than gun violence perpetrated for a criminal motive where the gun related injuries and deaths are inflicted in the commission of those crimes (like armed robbery, drug dealer's being robbed, etc.), public gang violence—even with bystander injuries because there was no intent to harm them—and specific very personal grudges like family related violence where injured or killed bystanders are not the intended target. I recognize there can be some blurry lines in that last piece but I'd view this sort of grudge motivating murder as something more specific than being picked on at school or not promoted at work.

If LE differentiated these types of shootings, we would not be hearing "we've had more than one mass shooting per day in 2023". That change would decrease the perception of an emergency and decrease the public's appetite for gun control measures that do things like banning "assault" rifles and limiting magazine capacity.

I have trouble imagining any constitutional gun control that would prevent crime related gun violence, beyond temporary firearms restrictions related to DV restraining orders. Bans and capacity limits won't stop criminals from being armed.

The only public stranger on stranger shooting I can think of that MSRs with high capacity magazines made the crime possible and more deadly is the Las Vegas shooting. Almost all others I can think of could be (or were) accomplished with pistol(s) and enough magazines or even a couple revolvers with speed loaders. I think if we are being honest we can acknowledge that rifle rounds will be more deadly, round to round, and higher capacity magazines MIGHT help a completely untrained shooter to kill a few more innocents but again these types of shooting are overall pretty rare.

 

[Mark_Dorman]

Just a label for statistics that sounds crazy. People hear "mass shooting" they think of a terrorist like attack on civilians. Most "mass shootings" I believe are drug and gang related, but they don't really talk about that part of it.

 

[MichaelH]

Spree killings actually sounds more like what people perceive when they think of public stranger on stranger high casualty shootings.

 

[CamoDeafie]

Good targets for .22lr accuracy

Shooting spree candy

 

[Koda]

. I also think the MSM is conservative, not liberal so I don't view the slant and reporting on gun issues as being specifically liberal, rather it appeals to the average viewer/news consumer.

If the media was honest and unbiased they would accurately report on the true numbers of "mass shootings".
They only cite statistics by gun control groups, but never cite stats from Lotts CRPC. I dont see how the media is conservative biased on this subject anyways...

 

[CamoDeafie]

If the media was honest and unbiased they would accurately report on the true numbers of "mass shootings".
They only cite statistics by gun control groups, but never cite stats from Lotts CRPC. I dont see how the media is conservative biased on this subject anyways...

They also never seem to cite the FBI UCR except for the real short "trends" like violence and murder and rapes

 

[MichaelH]

I tend to go NPR and they routinely provide the definition —so critical thinking folks say "well, wait a minute".

 

[Xaevian]

Pro tip: You can see the particular bias of any media corporation by looking for the quantity and context of all the adjectives and adverbs in their reporting.

 

[Hooyah DeepSea]

I tend to go NPR and they routinely provide the definition —so critical thinking folks say "well, wait a minute".

But, NPR is notoriously liberal, always has been. They are alot like AARP. They claim to support certain 'folk' but they lobby for gun control in the background because they believe that (and are paid to) say the old people should not have guns.

 

[Nosferatu]

Columbine was the first I remember hearing it, but that's probably because I was living in CO at the time and my younger sister went there during the shooting.

Before that, it was just "going postal".

 

[dancinghippos]

I tend to go NPR and they routinely provide the definition —so critical thinking folks say "well, wait a minute".

I am glad if they defined for critical thinkers. But I lost confidence in them around 20 yrs ago.
I used to listen every morning and evening to NPR on the commute. By late 90's they devolved from a left-center mix to almost all left. I stopped donating then. I also found that all the CEO's of Corp for Public Broadcasting had histories as Dem party people. I was done.

 

[DunRanull]

I experienced a mass bowel movement throughout the day ( more than 3) Must have been something I ate….

No sh!t? Whoa! For some folks, like my x-sister-in-law, that's a weeks-worth right there...

 

[uberguy]

No. I was just referring to the title of this thread. Don't over complicate it.

Exactly, I've never heard of a fun or practice shooting at any church.

 

[Duneblaster]

It's in a playbook of some kind to use "mass shootings" to take the guns. It worked in the past in other countries so they keep doing it. Australia, back in 1996 is just one example. Some of that 'fake news' we heard about? We're living in the days of CGI, deep fakes, paid actors, and corruption. They can slap any face on anyone if they want to go after that person. And the gullible masses will believe it. Look at the Vegas "mass shooting"; big window would've had to have been removed (and that guy wouldn't have been able to do it alone), gunfire was heard in more than one direction, guns being fired didn't sound like one AR15 being bump fired. We never get to hear a word spoken from the mouths of these socalled "mass shooters". The Aurora "mass shooter" with the orange hair looked heavily drugged in a dreamlike Obidenesque state when he was in court.

The movie 'Rust'.. Quote: "Your Guns Have 2 Enemies - RUST & Politicians". Coincidence or a clue? The director didn't seem like the cowboy movie type to me at all and the girl Alec Baldwin supposedly "shot" was born in Ukraine. Did you see the girl they claimed was their armorer? Strange indeed. Baldwin has always been vocal about his views regarding the unwashed masses owning guns. He's very anti-gun so I doubt he'd star as a gun slinger because as we all know westerns promote gun ownership. Obviously he wouldn't want to be part of that. Most celebrities live in gated communities and have pampered lives sheltered away from what's happening on the streets & public transit. There are some exceptions but those are mostly just publicity stunts intended to make them appear relatable. Mostly they just want you to watch their movies so they can buy another vacation home or exotic European sports car.