Political Quotes

“Heidi Stevens' column in the Tribune points out that the media often subjectively defines and covers what it considers to be mass shootings. All too often, mass shootings in communities of color are left out of the coverage, and this is wrong. It is unfair. It is nothing short of an outrage. It needs to change. We need to understand the full scope of this crisis that is killing so many Americans, with reliable, objective data that is quickly made available. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention keeps count, but there is a time lag with its data on firearm deaths and injuries. Right now, the latest official CDC report on gun deaths is from the year 2019. There is a website, though, Gun Violence Archive, that keeps track of shooting incidents virtually on a realtime basis. I believe that news coverage of mass shootings in America should use the definition and statistics provided by the Gun Violence Archive. They define a mass shooting as an incident in which four or more people are shot and either killed or injured, not including the shooter. It is a purely numerical standard. It is not subjective. According to the Gun Violence Archive's definition--I want to put this on the record in the Senate--so far this year, by its definition, there have been 153 mass shootings. Yet we are only 109 days into the year. Nine of this year's mass shootings so far have taken place in Chicago. Four people have been fatally shot in these shootings, and 50 have been injured.…”