The Heritage Foundation Report "The Current Gun Debate: Mass Shootings" Cliff Notes Version

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The Heritage Foundation foundation has released an excellent report on mass shootings and the current gun debate.  It is simply the facts.  I encourage everyone to download and read the full version in PDF.  Here is a condensed version.  Items in parentheses are my own.

1. Mass Killings are rare, and mass public shootings are even rarer.  School shootings are rarer still.

a) Mass killings are very rare, accounting for only 0.2% of homicides every year and approximately 1% of homicide victims.

b) Only 12% of mass killings are mass public shootings

2. Many gun control measures are not likely to be helpful.

a) Over 90% of public mass shootings take place in “gun-free zones” where civilians are not permitted to carry firearms.

b) A complete ban on “assault weapons” will save very few lives.  (I would argue none.)

c) The average age of mass public shooters is 34, so raising the purchase age really won't help.

d) Few mass public shooters have used “high-capacity magazines,” and there is no evidence that the lethality of their attacks would have been affected by delays of two to four seconds to switch magazines. (The Parkland mass murderer used 10 shot magazines.)

3. Public mass shooters typically have histories of mental health issues.


4. The United States does not have an extraordinary problem with mass public shootings compared to other developed countries.

a) After adjusting for population differences, many other developed countries have worse problems with mass public shootings than the United States has.

b) There were 27% more casualties per capita from mass public shootings in the European Union than in the U.S. from 2009–2015.

5. Mass killers often find ways to kill even without firearms.

a) Some of the worst mass killings in the United States have occurred without firearms.

b)  In other countries, bombings, mass stabbings, and car attacks frequently kill more people than even the deadliest mass shootings in the United States. 

6. Australia did not “eliminate mass public shootings” by banning assault weapons.