Opinion: Shootings: Making a case against misleading statistics with misleading statistics?

To the editor: While the author’s comparison of U.S. mass killing statistics with those elsewhere is not very comforting for anyone, it does point out one fact: Our gun control laws are much more effective at generating publicity for lawmakers than they are at preventing firearm-related crime. (“Let’s put mass shootings in context,” Opinion, July 31)

John W. Hazlet Jr., Pasadena

..

To the editor: John R. Lott Jr.’s op-ed piece on mass shootings appears well researched and his numbers certainly made me think. We are number 12 not number one in mass shootings.

What a relief to know that truth in the context of globalism. Now we know with certainty that we are not the most-deadly war zone in the world, even if we are number one in the developed world.

Gerard O’Brien, Brea

..

To the editor: Oh the irony of the opinion piece that makes its case against misleading statistics with misleading statistics. The relevant question is, of course, what is the difference in mass shooting rates between countries that have strict gun control laws and those that don’t. Lott was silent on this issue.

Branden Frankel, Encino

..

To the editor: What a lesson in obfuscation of the need for valid gun control legislation. I am glad that Lott went to the trouble of assuring our citizens that we have less reason to fear mass attacks than 11 other nations. But his examples are those of violence for reasons of political gain and religious fanaticism.

America is at the top in homicide by persons using guns. In America, people use guns to kill other people on purpose for the sole benefit of the killer.

That’s something we can fear with a much greater likelihood than being a victim of a mass killing by religious fanatics or during a political struggle.

Karen Robinson-Stark, Pasadena

..

To the editor: Lott employs linguistic sleight of hand in asserting Americans would not be safer if we adopted more effective gun laws.

His premise is that Americans are no more likely to die from gun wounds suffered in mass shootings than are people from other countries. His position is refuted by logic and the facts.

I don’t believe the families of firearm victims care much whether their loved ones died from being shot in a “mass shooting” or a “regular” shooting. Dead is dead, and the facts are that Americans are 10 times more likely to be killed by a gunshot than people in other developed countries.

Ray McKown, Los Angeles

..

To the editor: Lott seems to be selectively using statistics about mass shootings to argue that gun control would not make America safer. I think the only thing is to refer to the actual statistics for everyone killed by guns, and the “firearm-related death rate per 100,000 of population” in the U.S. is far higher than that in the U.K. In the United Kingdom, where I am from, gun laws are very strict and few criminals have guns.

The conclusion to be drawn is that freely available guns do not protect people, they kill them.

Margaret Tunstall, West Hollywood

..

To the editor: Thank goodness for this piece. What a relief it is to know that all of the mass shootings in our country are completely normal. Now I can get back to my golf — and actually enjoy it.

Wes Correll, Monarch Beach

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook