thanks for the shout-out! I'm curious how much -- and this could be based in polling if you've seen it (I haven't, but wouldn't be surprised if it exists) or just anecdotally -- you think Americans routinely adjust their plans around community events/spaces for fear of mass shootings. Like, it has never occurred to me to skip a parade or whatever because I might get shot. I realize it's possible, but it doesn't rise to the risk level to make me change my behavior, and I don't think (?) I know people who have changes plans for that reason.
This is a good question and perhaps I should've been more rigorous! I have a friend who put her children in two different schools a couple of years ago because she figured if there was a mass shooting at one, she wouldn't risk both of her kids getting killed at the same time. That's what got me thinking about this, although I acknowledge that's both an extreme and rare example. And it's possible I'm jumping the gun a bit, but you're regularly seeing stories about mass panics from people just thinking there's a shooting happening.
WASHINGTON — A large majority of adults in the United States are stressed by mass shootings, and a third of U.S. adults say that fear of mass shootings stops them from going to certain places and events, according to a new survey on stress and mass shootings by the American Psychological Association.
The current survey found that more than three-quarters of adults (79%) in the U.S. say they experience stress as a result of the possibility of a mass shooting. Additionally, many adults report that they are changing their behavior due to fear of mass shootings. Nearly one in three adults (32%) feel they cannot go anywhere without worrying about being a victim of a mass shooting, while just about the same number (33%) say fear prevents them from going to certain places or events. Nearly one-quarter (24%) of adults report changing how they live their lives because of fear of a mass shooting.
When asked which places they are stressed about the possibility of a mass shooting occurring, adults most commonly say a public event (53%), mall (50%), school or university (42%) or movie theater (38%), with only one in five (21%) saying they never experience stress as a result of the possibility of a mass shooting.
Huh! That's higher than I would have guessed, especially for the reports of behavioral change--though that 79% is also surprisingly high, as it has to include a good chunk of Republicans. (I found the original report, and it doesn't have partisan breakdown, alas.) Thanks for digging that up.
thanks for the shout-out! I'm curious how much -- and this could be based in polling if you've seen it (I haven't, but wouldn't be surprised if it exists) or just anecdotally -- you think Americans routinely adjust their plans around community events/spaces for fear of mass shootings. Like, it has never occurred to me to skip a parade or whatever because I might get shot. I realize it's possible, but it doesn't rise to the risk level to make me change my behavior, and I don't think (?) I know people who have changes plans for that reason.
This is a good question and perhaps I should've been more rigorous! I have a friend who put her children in two different schools a couple of years ago because she figured if there was a mass shooting at one, she wouldn't risk both of her kids getting killed at the same time. That's what got me thinking about this, although I acknowledge that's both an extreme and rare example. And it's possible I'm jumping the gun a bit, but you're regularly seeing stories about mass panics from people just thinking there's a shooting happening.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/03/nyregion/central-park-concert-stampede.html
In any case, yes there is polling! From 2019:
WASHINGTON — A large majority of adults in the United States are stressed by mass shootings, and a third of U.S. adults say that fear of mass shootings stops them from going to certain places and events, according to a new survey on stress and mass shootings by the American Psychological Association.
The current survey found that more than three-quarters of adults (79%) in the U.S. say they experience stress as a result of the possibility of a mass shooting. Additionally, many adults report that they are changing their behavior due to fear of mass shootings. Nearly one in three adults (32%) feel they cannot go anywhere without worrying about being a victim of a mass shooting, while just about the same number (33%) say fear prevents them from going to certain places or events. Nearly one-quarter (24%) of adults report changing how they live their lives because of fear of a mass shooting.
When asked which places they are stressed about the possibility of a mass shooting occurring, adults most commonly say a public event (53%), mall (50%), school or university (42%) or movie theater (38%), with only one in five (21%) saying they never experience stress as a result of the possibility of a mass shooting.
Huh! That's higher than I would have guessed, especially for the reports of behavioral change--though that 79% is also surprisingly high, as it has to include a good chunk of Republicans. (I found the original report, and it doesn't have partisan breakdown, alas.) Thanks for digging that up.