Mass shootings are a social contagion

An editorial popped up this weekend from the editorial board at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch analyzing what they describe as “a generational shift on guns.” They start out by somberly reporting polling data that foretells what they describe as “trouble ahead” for Republican politicians who continue to block any “rational restrictions on guns.” According to them, a new generation of young conservatives has arisen that is far more open to certain gun restrictions than the previous generation. And what would cause such a generational shift? The fact that they are exposed to a regular barrage of news reports about mass shootings. The presumption is that these young conservatives are reaching the point of essentially saying ‘enough is enough.’ So the days of greater gun restrictions must surely be on the horizon. Here’s a brief portion of the board’s introduction.Read More