VICTIMS OF MASS SHOOTINGS

Provides statistics that update discussions that appear in Chapters 2, 3, and 13 in the 10th edition.

A politically progressive magazine that supports the gun safety movement has undertaken the task of assembling data about all the mass shootings that have broken out since 1982. See a listing of all the cases up to 2019 here.

An array of pictures serves as a reminder of the toll of mass shootings. Those who were gunned down during the summer of 2019 are shown here.

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DATABASE ASSEMBLES INFORMATION ABOUT ALL CAMPUS MASS SHOOTINGS FROM 1966 UP TO THE START OF 2020

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Victims of El Paso Walmart mass shooting remembered as store reopens

A hate-motivated gunman, reacting to what he categorized as a “Hispanic invasion of Texas,” gunned down 22 people and wounded dozens more at a border superstore, as described here and here. What should be done to commemorate the slaughter of innocent shoppers, many of them from Juarez, Mexico, as raised in this radio interview.

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THE 25 WORST MASS SHOOTINGS IN U.S. HISTORY

The first one took place on a college campus in Texas during the mid 1960s, and another erupted in the early 1970s. The rest, unfortunately, are much more recent, as compiled here.

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VICTIMS OF MASS SHOOTINGS AT SCHOOLS

Updates the data presented on p. 432-435 of Chapter 11 of the 10th edition by providing the latest figures for these outrageous tragedies:

• As of the middle of November, 2019, there had been 30 mass shootings in schools across the country that had resulted in injuries and/or deaths, according to the compilation presented here.

-Two high school students were murdered and two others were hospitalized when a classmate, remembered as a quiet Boy Scout, fired off a number of rounds at random in a 16 second span, as recounted here.

VICTIMS OF THE MASS SHOOTING AT A FLORIDA HIGH SCHOOL REMEMBERED

One year later, the 14 high school students who were murdered by a fellow student were remembered in a number of ways: A website commemorated them, along with the roughly 1,200 other young people whose lives were cut short by gunfire. Their stories were reported by teenage journalists, as detailed in an article here and the website here.

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HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE STUDENTS PREPARE FOR THE WORST…

Active shooter drills are taking place at schools, colleges, and workplaces.They focus on “what to do if…” in the hope that preparedness can reduce casualties.

A video produced by high school students can be watched here.

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MASS MURDERS, ESPECIALLY THOSE CARRIED OUT IN PUBLIC, GRAB THE MEDIA’S ATTENTION. BUT EVERYDAY GUN MURDERS AND SUICIDES FAR OUTNUMBER THESE HIGH PROFILE SLAUGHTERS

Updates the grim body count due to gunfire provided in Ch. 13 of the 10th edition.

Mass murders carried out in public plus slaughters that took place in non-public places capture the public’s attention each year. But these terrible events are overshadowed by the steady stream of “ordinary,” everyday gun-facilitated slayings and suicides, as shown in this infographic here.

Unfortunately, more people died from bullets during 2017 than in any year since 1968. Gun murders were way down from their peaks in the early 1990s, but gun suicides brought the body count up to nearly 40,000 fatalities, a 50 year high, as described here.

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POLICE OFFICERS ARE VICTIMS OF LETHAL WEAPONS TOO, AND MAKE THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE PROTECTING THE PUBLIC FROM VICTIMIZATION

Furnishes some especially poignant reminders of the dangers of police work, as cited on pp. 402-404 in Ch. 11 of the 9th edition.

Every murder of a police officer in the line of duty is a tragedy and an outrage, but some killings are particularly ironic and terrible.

For example, a young rookie is shot to death by a man who had just killed his wife, after responding to a “domestic disturbance” call on her first day on the job, as described here.

A 21 year-old officer on his first solo tour of duty is murdered by a man wanted for  a string of bank robberies, as recounted here.

A young officer, who was carrying out her last assignment before going on maternity leave to take care of her premature baby, is murdered while serving a warrant, as detailed here.

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POLICE OFFICERS SURVIVE SHOOTINGS THANKS TO BULLET-RESISTANT VESTS

Provides evidence for the claim that body armor has helped to cut down line-of-duty deaths, as cited on p. 404 in Ch. 11 of the 9th edition.

One of the reasons that police work has become safer is that officers routinely wear body armor. Read about the life-saving features of vests that enabled two generations of officers to escape death here.

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POLICE WORK ACTUALLY HAS BECOME SAFER OVER THE YEARS

Provides the latest statistical evidence to support the claim that line-of-duty murders remain at historic lows, as cited on p. 403 in Ch. 11 of the 9th edition and pages 453-457 in Chapter Eleven in the Tenth Edition.

Police work has never been safer. This downward trend is clearly visible in the graphs in this article. Also, contrary to some highly politicized claims, there is no evidence that currently a “war on cops” is raging.

AUTHORITIES USING DOGS TO HELP SOOTHE VICTIMS Of TRAUMA

Dogs are surely “man’s best friend,” especially when the dog is trained to be “supportive” and the victim is in desperate need of a calming presence, as described here.