dogsledonice t1_jece1i5 wrote on March 31, 2023 at 12:00 AM

Reply to comment by DrJawn in We’re Washington Post journalists who spent the past months investigating how the AR-15 became a symbol of the gun control debate, political identity and mass shootings. Ask us anything. by washingtonpost

Because rifles are increasingly used for mass attacks - 4 out of 5 of the worst mass shootings in the US involved rifles, including the worst (Las Vegas). Sandy Hook, Orlando. That kind of firepower is more difficult to counter - look at Uvalde. Or, again, Vegas -- not so easy to rack up huge casualty numbers with handguns (which are more common, so yeah - they're used more often).

https://www.statista.com/statistics/476409/mass-shootings-in-the-us-by-weapon-types-used/

buzzothefuzzo t1_jed686t wrote on March 31, 2023 at 3:43 AM

sure would've helped the effort to counter the attack in uvalde if the police actually you know... did their jobs... they have body armor, high powered, automatic guns, with standard capacity clips allowing them to hold more ammo than many US citizens can. why didn't they use them??

dogsledonice t1_jedange wrote on March 31, 2023 at 4:25 AM

Because they were facing military-style weaponry, which is my point

For all the "good guys with a gun" rhetoric you folks spout, they seem to disappear mighty fast when faced with a bad guy with a semi-auto

triit t1_jeezix7 wrote on March 31, 2023 at 3:07 PM

You obviously didn't see the body cam footage from Nashville...

dogsledonice t1_jeftxi2 wrote on March 31, 2023 at 6:25 PM

Oh? How is that germane to how the Uvalde police responded?

DrJawn t1_jecruvw wrote on March 31, 2023 at 1:44 AM

7% of gun deaths are rifles

what_mustache t1_jef4llc wrote on March 31, 2023 at 3:40 PM

That seems like a lot if you assume they aren't typically for suicide.

DrJawn t1_jefgug7 wrote on March 31, 2023 at 4:59 PM

Even less suicides are rifles. 53% of child gun deaths are suicides.

dogsledonice t1_jed4z8y wrote on March 31, 2023 at 3:32 AM

I mean, use whatever stats you want to imply what you want to imply.

"Gun deaths" will include suicides, of which there are very many. Does anyone use an AR for that? No. Do they use ARs in slaughtering innocents in schools, churches, malls, concerts, bars, etc.? Yep. And both figures are grotesquely high *when compared to any similar country* other that the U.S.