ANOTHER MASS SHOOTING

Hate to on this Sunday feature killings, but the USA had another mass shooting yesterday, in Birmingham, Alabama.  

• Four were killed and more than 20 injured.  

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  Authorities are not sure who or how many were responsible.  
• No suspects yet. 
• You can be pardoned for not even knowing this happened, for something similar occurs all the time.
• There have been more than 400 mass shootings in the U.S. this year.
• The FBI defines mass shooting as an event in which one or more individuals are actively engaged in killing or attempting kill people in a populated area.  Implicit is the use of firearm.  Usually needs to have at last three deaths.

• ONE THIRD of all the world's public mass shootings between 1966 and 2012 occurred in the U.S.  Size of circle indicates relative number of shootings.
• Not sure why that period ended more than twelve years ago, but that was from Wikipedia, and until 2012 there have been 4,011 mass shootings in the U.S.
• Highest rate in Washington, DC, followed by Louisiana.
• Perpetrator demographics vary by type of mass shooting, though in almost all cases they are male. Contributing factors include easy access to guns, perpetrator suicidality and early childhood trauma, as well as various sociocultural factors including online media reporting of mass shootings. In one study, 44% of mass shooters had leaked their plans prior to committing the act.
• There was a period when mass shooting deaths remained lower, from 1994 to 2004 during the period of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban.

• Do we need better gun control?

• Who are to blame?  National Rifle Association, Republican Party, second amendment to the Constitution,...the list goes on and on.
• Should this be a presidential campaign issue of importance?  Only in tenth place at a 4% concern level.

Here are the facts and trends.

• One-third of U.S. adults say they personally own a gun.  Including Kamala Harris.  But the breakdown is 45% Republicans and 20% Democrats.
• Donald Trump owns two hand guns, but now as a convicted criminal, might have them taken away.
• I was expert with an M1 rifle (that was a long time ago), .45 caliber pistol and machine gun when was in the U.S. Army, but have never owned one.
• The U.S. surgeon general has declared gun violence to be a public health crisis.
• Of those who do, 72% own one for personal protection.
• 58% of adults favor stricter gun laws.

Another Taylor Swift sighting.

Yesterday I featured From Russia with Lev.  MSNBC again replays this 1 hour 32 minute documentary tonight at 9PM EDT.  Don't confuse this with the 1963 James Bond From Russia With Love, which got 97/84 scores from Rotten Tomatoes, which you can stream.  Title song was sung by Matt Monro.

Yesterday, I also said that my Apple 16 Pro iPhone arrived in the mail.  My first photo, which is a view of downtown Honolulu and the Pacific Ocean from my seat at my iMac.

It is a beautiful day.

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