I wrote this article in response to all of the Mass Shootings in the news. Every time there is a "lone gunman" or an act of terror; how does the media respond? One side may speak of Islamic terror, while the other side claims that "terror is terror regardless." It seems we all want someone to blame. There is one fact floating around that seems to slip the minds of many members of the media. In most cases, an offender is a man. I decided to take a look at recent articles and FBI statistics. The following facts are my discoveries.
What role do men play in mass shootings?
According to Time.com; there have been 134 mass shooters in America since 1966. While women make up a little more than half of the population, there were only three women wielding a gun in these cases. This means approximately 98 percent of mass shootings are caused by men. That is why nobody disputes the term gunman. These are just statistics dealing with mass shootings. Surely men cannot be this terrible across the board, right? Well, as a man, I wish I could report differently.
What does the FBI have to say about men in crime?
The following are facts that can be found on the FBI.gov website. Please keep in mind that the statistics only reflect arrests in America.
- Men commit 88.7 percent of murder and non-negligent manslaughter
- Men commit 99.1 percent of forcible rape
- Men also commit 92.2 percent of other sex offenses (excluding prostitution)
- Men commit 87 percent of robbery
- Men commit 77.1 percent of aggravated assault
- Men commit 83.6 percent of burglary
- Men commit 56.9 percent of larceny
- Men commit 81.1 percent of vehicle theft
- Men commit 82 percent of arson
- Men commit 72.3 percent of other assaults
- Men commit 62.8 percent of forgery and counterfeiting offenses
- Men commit 59.5 percent of fraud
- Men commit 51.6 percent of embezzlement
- Men commit 79.7 percent of stolen property offenses
- Men commit 79.8 percent of vandalism
- Men commit 91.7 percent of weapons offenses
- Men commit 88 percent of gambling offenses
- Men commit 73.4 percent of offenses against the family and children
- Men commit 75.3 percent of DUI offenses
- Men commit 70.7 percent of liquor law offenses
- Men commit 81.6 percent of drunkenness offenses
- Men commit 71.8 percent of disorderly conduct offenses
- Men commit 79.7 percent of vagrancy charges
- Men commit 75 percent of all other offenses (except traffic)
These numbers are overwhelming, to say the least.
In fact, the only category that I could find where women were arrested at a higher percentage was prostitution. Men did attribute to 32.3 percent of the arrests in this category. Please do not forget that the women in these arrests, more often than not, are victims themselves. Accordingly, more often than not, they are part of a larger industry ran by men.
They are also participating, more often than not, in these acts with other male offenders.
I know what you are thinking
Of course, we cannot kick all the men out of the United States of America. That would be a ridiculous idea and would never work. Being a man myself, I am glad that is the reality. The reason I wrote this piece is not as a viral, "haha," article. I wrote this to highlight that while this type of philosophy is ridiculous; many similar philosophies are not. We cannot judge the actions of a criminal and apply them to an entire community. I also wrote this article to highlight a problem in the world. Men are far too violent. It is not only time for us to change but for us to pay more attention to women. In America especially, there are too few female politicians. Maybe we can learn from their demeanor.
