Politico posted a uniquely poor commentary last week on the real cause of mass shootings. It’s certainly not mental illness. It’s not even access to guns, per se. It’s not people coming to the end of their rope and “going postal.” What is the single motivating factor behind these massacres? Quite simple: men.
Here is what journalist Laura Kiesel actually says in her introduction: “[W]hat might really be to blame for the trend of mass shootings in America… No it isn’t mental illness. It’s gender.” Don’t roll your eyes just yet. The article presents evidence for the claim: “Of the 96 mass shootings committed since 1982, all but two were committed by men.” That’s the author’s whole case.
She goes onto to explain, correctly, how men are more likely to do very bad things. Men are responsible for the majority of gun-related deaths. They own guns at triple the rate of women. Men are three times more likely to commit suicide than women are, and do so more violently. The great majority of murder-suicides are committed by men. They commit far more violent crimes than women. This is the evidence Kiesel offers.
While piling on, she forgot to include that men have started nearly every war since the beginning of time. They commit nearly every rape. They form every gang in every community, and all major drug lords are men. It’s not women who start 99.9 percent of all bar fights or who usually gamble a family’s money away. This is not news to anyone.
by Glenn T. Stanton
