“A record of active shooters occurrences (defined as situation where an individual is actively attempting to kill in a populated space) via an FBI data base and media reports from 2000 through 2017 shows 248 occurrences in America with 76 involving a rifle. … In those incidents a semiautomatic rifle was involved in slightly less than one quarter (24.6%) with just barely over three quarters (75.4%) involving handguns, shotguns, and non-semiautomatic rifles. When perpetrators utilized multiple types of firearms, they used semiautomatics in 60.7 percent of the cases. … Semiautomatics are relatively easy to use, have large magazines thereby allowing for more shots, and carry high velocity bullets that inflict greater harm. … The greater rate of usage when multiple rifles were employed suggests that when lethality factored into the killers’ decision-making then murderous efficiency was a primary consideration.” – How Rampage Killers Emerge by S. Lee Funk, Ed.D., to be released by Palgrave Macmillan © 2022
“Active shooter incidents with vs without the presence of a semiautomatic rifle were associated with a higher incidence of persons wounded (unadjusted mean, 5.48 vs 3.02; incidence rate ratio [IRR], 1.81 [95% CI, 1.30-2.53]), killed (mean, 4.25 vs 2.49; IRR, 1.97 [95% CI, 1.38-2.80]), and wounded or killed (mean, 9.72 vs 5.47; IRR, 1.91 [95% CI, 1.46-2.50]) … The percentage of persons who died if wounded in incidents with a semiautomatic rifle (43.7% [n = 259 of 593]) was similar to the percentage who died in incidents without a semiautomatic rifle (44.9% [n = 459 of 1023]) (IRR, 0.99 [95% CI, 0.60-1.61]). … Although 44% of persons wounded in active shooter incidents died of their injuries, irrespective of the type of firearm used, more people were wounded and killed in incidents in which semiautomatic rifles were used compared with incidents involving other firearms.” from Elzerie de Jager, Eric Goralnick, Justin C. McCarty, Zain G. Hashmi, Molly P. Jarman, and Adil H. Haider, “Lethality of Civilian Active Shooter Incidents with and without Semiautomatic Rifles in the United States,” Journal of American Medical Association320, no. 10 (September 2018): 1034.
This article was originally published on June 2, 2022 on LinkedIn.