Each year more than 130,000 people are shot in this country. Some of these incidents have the scale of national tragedies, and then another town’s name becomes infused with sadness. Charleston, San Bernardino, Columbine, Sandy Hook. But these shootings account for only a fraction of the gun deaths in this country. In 2013, there were 33,000 deaths from firearms, and less than 2 percent of them were from mass killings.
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Why mass shootings spawn conspiracy theories
Mass shootings and conspiracy theories have a long history.
While conspiracy theories are not limited to any topic, there is one type of event that seems particularly likely to spark them: mass shootings, typically defined as attacks in which a shooter kills at least four other people.
When one person kills many others in a single incident, particularly when it seems random, people naturally seek out answers for why the tragedy happened. After all, if a mass shooting is random, anyone can be a target.
Pointing to some nefarious plan by a powerful group – such as the government – can be more comforting than the idea that the attack was the result of a disturbed or mentally ill individual who obtained a firearm legally.
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