Gun Stuff

Before we knew much about the San Bernardino shooters Vox explained How fixing America’s mental health system might catch future mass shooters.

A bill proposed by Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA), the only clinical psychologist in Congress, wants to close many of the fissures in the country’s mental health system that have allowed those shooters to slip through. The bill, first proposed in 2013 and reintroduced in June, is a transparent effort by Murphy — who maintains an A rating from the NRA — to divert the conversation away from limiting potential shooters’ access to guns. But politics aside, the bill is chock full of proposals that are as likely as any to catch and treat mass shooters before they snap.

• Increase access to inpatient mental health treatment
• Compel patients to accept early treatment — before they reach a crisis point
• Allow families to know what’s going on with relatives receiving treatment
• It doesn't prevent individuals with serious mental illness from obtaining guns.

Dylan Matthews explains whether There have been 353 mass shootings this year — or just 4?

How gun control works in America, compared with 4 other rich countries Compares the US, Canada, UK, Switzerland and Japan gun laws.

A shocking statistic about gun deaths in the US is that "Of all children aged 0-14 killed by guns in developed countries...87% are US children".

Mother Jones answers, Do Armed Civilians Stop Mass Shooters? Actually, No.. "As I reported recently in our in-depth investigation, not one of 62 mass shootings in the United States over the last 30 years has been stopped this way. More broadly, attempts by armed civilians to intervene in shooting rampages are rare—and are successful even more rarely. (Two people who tried it in recent years were gravely wounded or killed.) And law enforcement overwhelmingly hates the idea of armed citizens getting involved." He goes on to debunk five commonly cited examples by gun rights activists.

If you want a funnier examination of the issue, The Daily Show tests if a "good guy with a gun" can stop a mass shooting