Gun Violence Is an Everywhere Issue: Majority of mass shootings don't happen in cities

from the Atlantic:



All too often gun violence in America is posed as an urban problem. True, large urban centers have the highest rates of murders by gun. But our suburbs, small towns and rural areas are far from immune to the tragic consequences of guns, as the mass murder of children in Newtown, Connecticut, shows, not to mention the killing spree in an Aurora, Colorado, movie theater this past summer, or the gunning down of Gabby Giffords and others during a political event in Tucson, Arizona, or 1999's mass shooting at Columbine High School.

With the help of Atlantic Cities' fellow Sara Johnson, I examined several lists of the locations of recent mass shootings in America. While the data do not cover every mass shooting and have limited geographic information, our accounting clearly shows that the wide majority of mass killings and especially mass school killings have occurred not in the urban centers of large cities, but in the small towns, burgs and villages of our suburban and rural areas.

.........(snip).........

Years ago, in the wake of another mass school shooting, a psychology colleague of mine at the time at Carnegie Mellon University offered me a simple theory of why mass school killings might have a more suburban, small-town orientation than gun violence in general. Urban public schools are much more diverse across racial and ethnic lines. Yes, there is fighting and bullying like anywhere, but kids can view them less as personal attacks and more as group behavior. And often times, kids band together along these racial and ethnic lines. Just the opposite is likely in schools in more affluent suburban areas. Not only are these schools more economically advantaged, they tend to be much more homogenous. Since everyone is more or less "the same," kids who are picked on are more likely to feel personally victimized. There is little to help diffuse the resulting anger or anxiety, so it festers and feeds off itself.

While some in the media tend to portray poor urban areas as breeding crime and violence, it's the quiet suburbs and rural areas which appear to be more likely breeding grounds for mass killers and mass killings. It's ironic that the most ardent advocate for gun control is the mayor of America's largest city, Michael Bloomberg, who said: "Calling for ‘meaningful action’ is not enough. We need immediate action." .................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.theatlanticcities.com/politics/2012/12/gun-violence-everywhere-issue/4176/