The Common Denominator in Gun Massacres Is Military-Style Weapons Championed for Profit

to Stop It, points to the culture wars of white male gun owners and the firearms industry, which tends to stay lurking in the background, signing the checks.

It is the gun industry, he contends, which has turned the once basic revolver and rifle into a marketing machine for highly lethal militarized weapons.

One recent study found that in the four major mass shootings in the second half of 2012, an AR-15 assault weapon was the single common denominator. The study, published in Art on Issues, concludes: "Assuming no bias in selection, the odds of a member of the AR rifle family being selected simply by chance in any of the individual events amongst all available types of rifles and shotguns becomes about 2.4 in 100 (0.024). The odds of a member of the AR rifle family being selected in all four independent events simply by chance is less than 1 in 3 million."

Those are astonishing odds, showing that the availability of assault weapons - which are a profitable product line for gun companies - does facilitate mass shooting sprees.

Read more: http://www.truth-out.org/progressive-picks/item/15634-the-common-denominator-in-gun-massacres-is-military-style-weapons-championed-for-profit