Quiet, Almost too quiet

[Farm Boy]

I expect an uptick for the holidays. Let's hope I'm wrong.

 

[Bamspeedy]

#29 is arguable. The four killings took place in three locations, the suicide at another. Again, it is all how you count them.

29) 1 December 2014, Monongalia County, WV, 5 killed



Total Incidents 29
Total killed 131

I still don't understand why you count the suicide. For example if a guy kills 3 and then himself I would count that as 3 victims not 4. Same goes if the guy is eventually shot by police rather than shot by himself. If you want to reduce the requirement to 3 killed rather than 4 if you remove the killer from the death count that's fine by me.

A mass-killing (depending on how you define/count them) is still about as rare as a lightning strike killing someone. *

Although, to Farm Boy's comment, I sense there won't be too many more with the holidays here. Much of the country doesn't get lightning this time of the year.

http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/fatalities.htm

(Yes, I realize the odds of an individual being killed in a mass killing is greater than being struck by lightning because when a mass killing does happen it claims 3+ victims, where lightning typically claims 1, very rarely 2 or more)

 

[Paul in Saudi]

Well, you have to decide what to count and what not to count. I have gone back and forth on counting non-gun killings. Consistency is the key. As I have a few years' worth of these things, I am spring-loaded against changing.

 

[Paul in Saudi]

30) 15 December 2014, Montgomery County PA, 5 killed


Total Incidents 30
Total killed 136

Incident #30 is still developing. If the gunman, now surrounded by the police kills himself, he will be added. If he is killed by the police, he does not count. As I said, it is all in the (self-imposed) way you do the counting.

 

[Paul in Saudi]

Police reports indicate six people are now dead in the developing situation in Pennsylvania.

30) 15 December 2014, Montgomery County PA, 6 killed


Total Incidents 30
Total killed 137

 

[Nobody]

Raff a little too raff

 

[Paul in Saudi]

The killer near Philadelphia has been found. This brings up the total. It is worth noting this is only the second event of seven dead so far this year.

Perhaps this will be the last entry for the year.

30) 15 December 2014, Montgomery County PA, 7 killed


Total Incidents 30
Total killed 138

 

[Paul in Saudi]

The killings in the news this morning (2 policemen in NYC, self and girlfriend in Baltimore) do not make the list as they was a long pause between them. Again, it shows how hard it is to be fair when making such a list.

 

[Paul in Saudi]

This one is still developing. It is not clear if the shooter is still alive.

31) 29 December 2014, Crowley TX, 4 killed


Total Incidents 31
Total killed 142

 

[Paul in Saudi]

With eight hours left in the year we might hope this is the entire butcher's bill:

2014 Mass Killing in USA

1) 16 January 2014 Spanish Fork UT, 5 killed
2) 3 February 2014 Cypress TX, 4 killed
3) 6 February 2014 Defiance OH, 4 dead
4) 20 February 2014 Indianapolis IN, 4 killed
5) 20 February 2014 Alturas, CA, 4 killed
6) 24 February 2014 Glade Springs VA 4 killed
7) 26 February 2014 Oak Lawn IL, 4 killed.
8) 2 April 2014 Fort Hood, TX, 4 killed
9) 3 May 2014 Jonesboro AK 4 killed
10) 9 May 2014 Tampa FL 4 killed
11) 9 May 2014 Pomona, CA 4 killed
12) 23 May 2014 Isla Vista CA 6 killed (3 stabbed)
13) 24 May 2014 Goleta, CA, 7 killed
14) 8 June 2014 San Carlos Park, FL, 5 killed
15) 16 June, 2014 Chesterfield County, VA, 4 killed
16) 9 July 2014 Spring, TX, 6 killed
17) 27 July 2014 Saco, ME 5 killed
18) 4 August 2014, Culpeper, VA 5 killed
19) 31 August 2014, Elmhurst IL 4 killed
20) ??August/September 2014, Bucyrus, OH, 4 killed, but all beaten
21) 3 September 2014, Greenville SC 4 killed
22) 18 September 2014, Bell, FL 8 killed
23) c. 27 September 2014, Springville UT 5 killed
24) 8 October 2014, Richmond VA 4 killed
25) 24 October 2014, Marysville WA 5 killed
26) 21 November 2014, Cleveland OH 4 killed
27) 21 November 2014, Tabernacle NJ 4 killed
28) 22 November 2014, Sisseton SD 4 killed
29) 1 December 2014, Monongalia County, WV, 5 killed
30) 15 December 2014, Montgomery County PA, 7 killed
31) 29 December 2014, Crowley TX, 4 killed


Total Incidents 31
Total killed 142

 

[Borachio]

Meanwhile, on US roads there were ~33,000 fatalities in the same year. (Down from a peak of 54,000 in 1972.)

And ~400,000 deaths attributable to tobacco smoking.

 

[Phrossack]

Meanwhile, on US roads there were ~33,000 fatalities in the same year. (Down from a peak of 54,000 in 1972.)

And ~400,000 deaths attributable to tobacco smoking.

As Edward Abbey said, the automobile is a bloody tyrant.

I mean, Jesus! We lose more people from two years of driving as the US did from Vietnam!

 

[Farm Boy]

And if you total cars, guns, and tobacco all together then double that total of fatalities you wind up in the neighborhood of the lives intentionally taken on the clinician's table. But we're probably moving off of our OP's intent with his well run and maintained thread.

 

[aelf]

And if we count the number of animals slaughtered as well...

Obvious troll is obvious.

 

[Farm Boy]

Oh, we slaughter boodles of livestock. But I'm not trolling. Not being aelf is not synonymous with either insincerity or fishing. But hey, that insult was pretty formulaic and worn out. Care to take another shot?

 

[aelf]

So I take it that you now understand that "lives intentionally taken" is not really a useful thing to measure?

 

[Farm Boy]

I think it's probably a horrible thing not to measure. Doesn't matter if it's cows processed, deer harvested under hunting tags, cockrels shredded after hatching, or larval humans terminated. Useful to measure? Yes, I think it is.

 

[aelf]

So who's doing the measuring? Any examples?

I suspect your point on abortion is not quite the same, though.

 

[Farm Boy]

You can find them. States maintain records of the tags granted and filled for hunting season. Various animal rights groups compile stats on their estimates for animals processed. The farms/companies themselves will have records too though they are not always compelled to divulge those records.

None of the points are exactly the same for all they share a general umbrella. So what would you like to discuss regarding the difference since you broadened the scope?

 

[aelf]

I brought it up in the context of your comment, naturally. You're right that there are reasons, mostly economic, to keep track of how many animals went to the slaughter, though I'd have thought that authorities would rather measure how big the yield in produce is rather than number of lives lost. It's a teleological point. You obviously brought up abortion for ethical reasons. Authorities keep track of the number of animals slaughtered for reasons other than the ethical, and there's a very good reason for that which counters your point.