In the same amount of time, there have been about 158 fatalities due to being struck by lightning.[2]
In 2013 alone, there were 611,105 fatalities due to heart disease and 56,979 due to influenze and pneumonia.[3] The stats are a bit out of date, but from 2005-2009, ~3,500 people drowned each year.[4]
If you're worried about yourself or a loved one dying, don't worry about dying in a mass shooting. It's about as likely as being struck by lightning.
[1]:http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/12/mass-shootings-m... [2]: http://www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/fatalities.shtml [3]: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm [4]: http://www.cdc.gov/HomeandRecreationalSafety/Water-Safety/wa...
Why?
1996 was the year the Australians banned guns.
The problem is not the tools but the people.
Frankly, I don't think the authoritarians have the stomach for gun prohibition. They need to get busy, pronto. It's going to take more, a lot more, than tweets to people who already agree with them. And so far, they've done nothing to get their "Repeal the 2A" ball rolling. Time's a-wastin'.
Well, given that we won't take this passively and will start slaughtering them, retail or wholesale (e.g. kill Blue cities by taking out their electrical system), I would hope they don't "have the stomach" for it. Well, prior to using the amendment process to repeal the 2nd Amendment, and even then that wouldn't change the facts on the ground, just like outside of Illinois Heller and McDonald haven't much changed the facts on the ground.
Evidence for this?
Revealed preferences show Americans buying firearms in steadily increasing numbers, e.g. both November and Black Friday hit new NICS records.
Every time one of these shootings happens RKBA repeal gets dragged closer to the Overton window. The only question is how much more human blood must be shed.