# Another White Male Perpetrates a Another Mass Shooting **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 22, 2021, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-white-male-perpetrates-a-another-mass-shooting/938463 "2021-03-22T22:39:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-white-male-perpetrates-a-another-mass-shooting/938463/1 "2021-03-22T22:39:40Z")
This time in a supermarket in [Boulder, Colorado](https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/22/us/boulder-colorado-shooting/index.html) This is after the Asian Spa shootings last week When I started this topic Discourse “helpfully” listed another of similar topics and for once they actually were similar regarding white men shooting numbers of other people. As I always state, I do not think this behavior is representative of ALL white males, but they do seem more prone to it than other groups. I realize I put this in the Pit, because mass shootings are very much Pit-worthy, but if anyone can bring actual facts/statistics to this I’d be quite content. ARE most mass shooters (either in the US or globally) White males? ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-white-male-perpetrates-a-another-mass-shooting/938463/2 "2021-03-22T22:49:43Z")
Since Boulder is 90% white it would be really weird if a non-white person did anything there. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-white-male-perpetrates-a-another-mass-shooting/938463/3 "2021-03-22T22:54:23Z")
[Number of mass shootings in the United States between 1982 and March 2021, by shooter’s race or ethnicity](https://www.statista.com/statistics/476456/mass-shootings-in-the-us-by-shooter-s-race/) The answer to the OP is a resounding yes. _Broadly speaking, the racial distribution of mass shootings mirrors the [racial distribution of the U.S. population](https://www.statista.com/statistics/270272/percentage-of-us-population-by-ethnicities/) as a whole. While a superficial comparison of the statistics seems to suggest African American shooters are over-represented and Latino shooters underrepresented, the fact that the shooter’s race is unclear in around five percent of cases, along with the different time frames over which these statistics are calculated means no such conclusions should be drawn. Conversely, looking at the [mass shootings in the United States by gender](https://www.statista.com/statistics/476445/mass-shootings-in-the-us-by-shooter-s-gender/) clearly demonstrates that the majority of mass shootings are carried out by men._ ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-white-male-perpetrates-a-another-mass-shooting/938463/4 "2021-03-22T23:13:02Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > While a superficial comparison of the statistics seems to suggest African American shooters are over-represented and Latino shooters underrepresented, the fact that the shooter’s race is unclear in around five percent of cases, along with the different time frames over which these statistics are calculated means no such conclusions should be drawn. I don’t understand this. Can’t you just add the 5 unknown races to each race to create a potential error range? It would seem that the stated numbers would be the minimum so we could say that there have been between 66 and 71 mass shooting out of 121 carried out by whites? Or 54.5-58.7% of shooting are by whites? I guess due to the small sample size we would need to expand the error +/- 10% so 44.5-68.7% of mass shooting are by whites. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-white-male-perpetrates-a-another-mass-shooting/938463/5 "2021-03-22T23:25:20Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > I do not think this behavior is representative of ALL **white males** , but they do **seem more prone to it than other groups.** I realize I put this in the Pit, because mass shootings are very much Pit-worthy, but if anyone can bring actual facts/statistics to this I’d be quite content. ARE most mass shooters (either in the US or globally) White males? **[emphasis added]** > [@snowthx](#): > > The answer to the OP is a resounding yes. I don’t think it is. From your own pull-quote: > _Broadly speaking, the racial distribution of mass shootings mirrors the [racial distribution of the U.S. population](https://www.statista.com/statistics/270272/percentage-of-us-population-by-ethnicities/) as a whole._ Most mass shooters in the U.S. are white, but so are most people. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2021, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-white-male-perpetrates-a-another-mass-shooting/938463/6 "2021-03-23T01:02:44Z")
> [@gdave](#): > > Most mass shooters in the U.S. are white, but so are most people. The OP was not asking about a % of the population, just if “most” mass shooters are white and male, and my link appears to support that they are (at least in the US). Also, even among white people in the US, about half are female, so the arrows are pointing to white males as the demographic having a problem here, and I do not think that is misleading. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2021, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-white-male-perpetrates-a-another-mass-shooting/938463/7 "2021-03-23T01:50:24Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > Also, even among white people in the US, about half are female, so the arrows are pointing to white males as the demographic having a problem here, and I do not think that is misleading. That doesn’t seem to be true. It appears black males (for now I’m discounting 3/118 mass shootings by females since we don’t know which male group they take away from) make up for 7-22% of mass shooting while only making up 6.6% of the population. White males make up 44-69% of mass shootings while making up 30.5% of the population. White males are 1.5-2.3x over represented in the mass shooting population while black males are 1-3x over represented so it seems males are vastly over represented but I’m not sure you can add the racial component. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2021, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-white-male-perpetrates-a-another-mass-shooting/938463/8 "2021-03-23T02:04:06Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > The OP was not asking about a % of the population, just if “most” mass shooters are white and male, and my link appears to support that they are (at least in the US). Also, even among white people in the US, about half are female, so the arrows are pointing to white males as the demographic having a problem here, and I do not think that is misleading. Except look at the part of the OP I bolded in my first reply: “ **…white males…seem more prone to it than other groups**.” Your own statistics say that isn’t actually true. _Males_ are more prone to perpetrating mass shootings than females - by a _huge_ proportion. But _white_ males seem no more prone than any other group of males. Saying that the arrows point to _white_ males as the demographic having a problem here _is_ misleading, at least by those statistics. _Males_, as a whole, irrespective of race, are the demographic having a problem here. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2021, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-white-male-perpetrates-a-another-mass-shooting/938463/9 "2021-03-23T02:08:44Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > As I always state, I do not think this behavior is representative of ALL white males, but they do seem more prone to it than other groups. I think that’s because those in the minority are already denied the privileges of being in the majority. Failed “majoritarians” seem to have the need to “do something about it” and their target is someone in the minority. Do not look for any other logic/rationality from someone committing an illogical/irrational act. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2021, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-white-male-perpetrates-a-another-mass-shooting/938463/10 "2021-03-23T02:24:59Z")
I posted this in another thread, but this on may be the better place for it. Shit. My spouse’s brother, sister-in-law, our niece and nephew live very close to that store. We haven’t heard from them that they’re OK, but I just saw the news a little bit ago. Sister-in-law is a teacher who was near Columbine when that shooting happened. It’s a lot of trauma in one place. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2021, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-white-male-perpetrates-a-another-mass-shooting/938463/11 "2021-03-23T02:31:11Z")
It’s a pretty safe assumption that the bloody guy in his underwear was the shooter, but we just don’t know that yet. How embarrassing for him if he isn’t. That CNN and MSNBC went to wall-to-wall coverage is ominous to me. This has happened before, and it indicated an unimaginable number of casualties, which we currently know includes an officer. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2021, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-white-male-perpetrates-a-another-mass-shooting/938463/12 "2021-03-23T02:38:50Z")
There was someone who live videoed the shooting. He didn’t just film, he warned people away from the store. The shooter started in the parking lot and went into the store. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2021, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-white-male-perpetrates-a-another-mass-shooting/938463/13 "2021-03-23T03:19:37Z")
I’ve seen a check in from brother-in-law now, so I think the family members are OK. I’m not sure I want to see pictures. I’m sure it’s a place I recognize from visits. This stuff’s got to stop. ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2021, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-white-male-perpetrates-a-another-mass-shooting/938463/14 "2021-03-23T03:56:48Z")
> [@Oredigger77](#): > > It appears black males (for now I’m discounting 3/118 mass shootings by females since we don’t know which male group they take away from) make up for 7-22% of mass shooting while only making up 6.6% of the population. White males make up 44-69% of mass shootings while making up 30.5% of the population. White males are 1.5-2.3x over represented in the mass shooting population while black males are 1-3x over represented so it seems males are vastly over represented but I’m not sure you can add the racial component. Got a cite for this? I’m not doubting you. I’d just like to read more from this source. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2021, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-white-male-perpetrates-a-another-mass-shooting/938463/15 "2021-03-23T05:47:09Z")
I wonder how the stats change if you remove the personal shootings like fights at parties, and the gang-related shootings, and only look at shootings with a political/ideological motivation? I suspect that will no longer track with demographics at all… ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2021, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-white-male-perpetrates-a-another-mass-shooting/938463/16 "2021-03-23T07:19:41Z")
Note that I’m _not_ saying this latest Boulder shooting is an example of political/ideological motivation, I don’t think we know what it was about yet. Although this little tit-bit [from a CNN story](https://edition.cnn.com/2021/03/22/us/boulder-colorado-shooting-witness-accounts/index.html) doesn’t leave me optimistic: > Steven McHugh told CNN’s Don Lemon his son-in-law was third in line for a Covid-19 vaccine when the shooter came in and killed the woman at the front of the line. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2021, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-white-male-perpetrates-a-another-mass-shooting/938463/17 "2021-03-23T08:29:32Z")
Wow - IF that’s true it goes way beyond the guy who came into the store where I work and started pulling the masks off other people. WTF is wrong with people being so virulently anti-mask? Or maybe the line for vaccines was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and he just shot at the first people he saw standing around. Who knows? So, for sure most mass shooters are men. It being a White problem might be/is likely down to demographics - most people in the US are White. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2021, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-white-male-perpetrates-a-another-mass-shooting/938463/18 "2021-03-23T08:49:43Z")
Most mass shooters are heterosexual. Most mass shooters believe in God. Most mass shooters are high-school graduates. Most mass shooters know how to drive. Most mass shooters are omnivores. Most mass shooters are over 5’2" tall. Statistics can be misleading. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2021, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-white-male-perpetrates-a-another-mass-shooting/938463/19 "2021-03-23T09:38:03Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > WTF is wrong with people being so virulently anti-mask? Donald Trump. He made it political. Masks were only for chickenshit Democratic cowards. This is nothing more than the flu; it will be gone in two or three weeks. Take some hydroxychloroquine. Kids don’t get Covid; why are we closing schools? Democrats want to close schools unless kids wear masks. Masks don’t help; kids don’t get Covid. It’s the economy that needs help, and masks and lockdowns and business closures get in the way of that. The stock market, fercryingoutloud! Democrats don’t want you to go anywhere without a mask? That goes against the very idea of American freedom! You’re an American patriot if you don’t wear a mask! You’re a traitor if you do! And so on and so on and yet more anti-science bullshit from the Cheeto-in-Chief. He made it political. I have no doubt that if this had happened during the presidency of Reagan, Bush I or Bush II, all sensible people, Republicans and right-leaning Americans would be enforcing mask laws, either through laws or as _ad hoc_ vigilantes; and supporting businesses that refused to serve non-masked patrons. But because the Cheeto-in-Chief denigrated mask-wearing, his sycophantic followers, like North Koreans, adopted a mantra of “Dear Leader Trump is always right.” And so, masks got political. If you support Trump, you don’t wear one. If you support Biden, you do. Sadly, the virus does not take political sides. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2021, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-white-male-perpetrates-a-another-mass-shooting/938463/20 "2021-03-23T11:49:38Z")
> [@nelliebly](#): > > Got a cite for this? I’m not doubting you. I’d just like to read more from this source. Thanks. @Oredigger77 is referring to the data cited by @snowthx: > [@snowthx](#): > > Number of mass shootings in the United States between 1982 and March 2021, by shooter’s race or ethnicity BTW, @Oredigger77, I think there’s a problem with your statistical analysis. You seem to be looking at static demographics circa 2020, when white men made up about 30% of the U.S. population. However, @snowthx’s data covers mass shootings from 1982, when white males were almost 40% of the U.S. population, to 2021. As I note above, _men_ are vastly over-represented, but as @snowthx’s own cite thanks, the racial breakdown of mass shooters roughly mirrors overall population demographics during the period. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-white-male-perpetrates-a-another-mass-shooting/938463.md?page=2)