On Friday afternoon, CNN’s Ana Cabrera presented viewers with disputed, one-sided anti-gun commentary in reaction to a mass shooting in Indianapolis.
Even though the accuracy of his work has been disputed, University of Alabama crime researcher Adam Lankford was given a forum to misleadingly argue that the U.S. has one of the worst mass shooting problems of any country in the world, and blaming it on too much availability of guns.
It was not mentioned that prominent right-leaning crime expert John Lott has challenged his findings, and argues the opposite — that the U.S. has a relatively lower rate of the kinds of large-scale public shootings that so often attract media attention.
After a report on a shooting that left eight dead at a FedEx office in Indianapolis the night before, Cabrera claimed: “So we’ve told you the numbers. In fact, the U.S. leads the world in mass shootings. But why? I recently asked Professor Adam Lankford. He’s been studying mass shootings for years.”
Then came a pre-recorded clip of Professor Lankford portraying the U.S. as having a much worse mass shooting problem than other countries:
I did a study of 171 countries to really look at where public mass shooters attack most frequently and why. And, despite having less than five percent of the world’s population, the United States had approximately 30 percent of the world’s mass shooters — really like six times what we should have if things were evenly distributed. And, in addition, we have more than 40 percent of the world’s civilian firearms.
He added:
And so, to your point about guns, firearm access seemed to be a critical explanation here. I do not look for a bunch of possible explanations, but, really, what the data said was that firearm access explains why people here, when they want to do something bad, do something so bad when compared to people with bad intentions but less access in other countries.
Cabrera then brought up an argument sometimes made by Republicans that mental illness needs to be targeted to stop the wrong people from getting guns, leading Professor Lankford to reiterate that too much access to guns in the U.S. leads to more mass shootings. No guest from the right was present to question his claims in real time.
It was also not mentioned that Lankford and Lott have responded back and forth on the subject for several years as Lott argues that the U.S. has disproportionately fewer mass shootings as compared to other countries.
This one-sided anti-gun segment on CNN was sponsored in part by Progressive. Their contact information is linked.
Transcript follows:
CNN Newsroom
April 16, 2021
1:09 p.m. Eastern
ANA CABRERA: So we’ve told you the numbers. In fact, the U.S. leads the world in mass shootings. But why? I recently asked Professor Adam Lankford. He’s been studying mass shootings for years.
PROFESSOR ADAM LANKFORD, UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA: I did a study of 171 countries to really look at where public mass shooters attack most frequently and why. And, despite having less than five percent of the world’s population, the United States had approximately 30 percent of the world’s mass shooters — really like six times what we should have if things were evenly distributed. And, in addition, we have more than 40 percent of the world’s civilian firearms.
And so, to your point about guns, firearm access seemed to be a critical explanation here. I do not look for a bunch of possible explanations, but, really, what the data said was that firearm access explains why people here, when they want to do something bad, do something so bad when compared to people with bad intentions but less access in other countries.
CABRERA: Politicians often throw out various factors to try to explain mass shootings in America. One of those is mental illness. Listen.
SENATOR TED CRUZ (R-TX): Let’s target the bad guys — the felons, fugitives, those with mental disease — let’s put them in jail — let’s stop them from getting guns.
MITCH MCCONNELL, SENATE MINORITY LEADER: The real challenge here is mental illness, and identifying people who are likely to do this kind of thing in advance is very, very difficult.
CABRERA: Adam, what did your research find about whether there is a correlation between mass shootings and mental illness?
LANKFORD: Well, so I think it’s important to acknowledge that certainly, you know, if you look at individual mass shooters, they often could benefit from mental health treatment, but that doesn’t explain why the United States is so different from the rest of the world. So one of the things I looked at is suicide rates, and suicide and mental illness are closely correlated, and the United States does not have anywhere near the worst suicide problem in the world.
And if you think about treatment and services, there are a lot of countries around the world that wish they had our treatment services — our medication — so, ultimately, the key is: What makes the United States different as a factor that could explain why we’re so different when it comes to this form of violence, and mental illness just isn’t it.
It’s really obvious why we have so many mass shootings. It has nothing to do with the number or kinds of guns that are used. It has to do with the fact that we are raising generations of people that are a bunch of whiney little brats that have been brought up to believe there are no conscious quinces for their actions, there is no discipline anymore. Parents keep patting the child on the head and tell them and everyone their child is and has always been just a perfect young man, or daughter when they are photographing themselves with a gun in hand. Schools and sports have participation trophies. Kids feel empowered for getting awards for just sitting in the bleachers and watching. Schools teach what a terrible country we are and that we have no morals because we are not more liberal. Courts let criminal violators go since we are so overpacked (cite and release). It’s not the conservative right that you see being arrested for rioting, mass shootings, and committing most of the criminal violations.
Well, that’s about the most unintelligent, uninformed explanation that’s been printed in a while. I do think it was the conservative right that perpetrated the Jan. 6 insurrection and the armed demonstrations across the country.
already been proved that it was pelosi and the demonrats that caused the riots and deaths. That’s why none of the law suits will ever go anywhere. cnn couldn’t tell the truth if their lives depended on it and you obviously believe their lies. So sorry for you and all the other gullible fools out there
Ok, how many felonies were cited on Jan 6?
How many charges of treason or insurrection?
How many people died from direct violence of any of the rioters?
None
None
And
Wait for it
NONE
i have a question for you, what cop killed the UNARMED female Air Force Vet?
Another question
What really killed the capitol police officer? It sure as hell was not a rioter with a fire extinguisher.
Uh huh. I bet you didn’t say a word as left wing rioters like BLM and antifa burned down cities and attacked cops and civilians, did you?
Well richard, if you think thats an uninformed comment then you probably fall into that category. To rebut your comment about jan. 6th, where did you get your information? Did you just watch the news? Did you look into it at all? Did you (taking a page from your side’s book) educate yourself? C’mon man, give me a break. Don’t insult others from behind your computer screen. Your the problem with our country today, you and all the people like you that don’t mind feeling superior based on lies.
@ Richard J Correnti
IDIOT!!!!!!
Thank you so much!!!!
Forgot to mention the Media constantly spreading hate and false narratives like this one. Also, the Democrats pushing the racist narrative every chance they get.
Let the haters of God control almost every institution and sow the seeds of hate against Christians, Christianity, God, Jesus Christ and the Bible eventually the nation reaps the whirlwind.
CNN the fake news network with how many lying sodomites?
when the dems want to eliminate the 2ND AMENDMENT why do “mass murders” increase? and conservatives do no take action?
mass shooting ,the easy solution no gun free zones better training with accurate concealed carry firearms so if a lunatic starts shooting some one will be able to terminate the insanity instantly .
Gang fights, family massacres, and gang drivebys shouldn’t be included with the indiscriminate nuts. There is a HUGE difference in motive. Family massacres would happen guns or no guns, hatchets, and knives. The same for some gang killings re the “Blackboard Jungle” and switchblade bans.
According to World Health Org., USA has 4.2 per 100,000 murders. We’re ranked #109. Honduras was #1 at 91 per.
But we are rapidly letting in all the criminals from Honduras and the rest of Central America so our murder rate should rise. Democrats like MS13.
CNN needs to learn the difference between Causation and Causality. If as the article points in is the high volume of gun ownership and number of guns in this country that leads to mass shootings, then with several millions guns in this country we should be having far more mass shootings than actually occur.
A more correlative report would look at all mass murders around the world irrespective of weapon used. Removing one weapon will not stop the killings. They tightened down on guns in UK and they shifted to knives, check on those stats and how they correlate. Now UK is asking people to turn in knives and restricting what types, who can and how they can obtain these. In Japan they used Saran gas, in Paris drove vehicles into crowds, Tim McVey used fertilizer to build a huge bomb. They used a bomb in a pressure cooker at the Boston Marathon.
Point is the mass murders will find their means and methods to pull off their crimes.