Colorado Republican Representative Lauren Boebert was swiftly fact-checked after she used a recent mass shooting in Denmark to criticize existing gun laws in the United States.
Writing on Twitter, Boebert claimed that a mass shooting that took three lives in Copenhagen, the country's capital, is proof that "gun laws DO NOT stop mass shootings" because Denmark has "some of the strictest gun laws in Europe."
\u201cThere was just a mass shooting in Denmark, a country with some of the strictest gun laws in Europe.\n\nIt\u2019s time to admit that gun laws DO NOT stop mass shootings!\u201d— Lauren Boebert (@Lauren Boebert) 1656878122
Boebert's claim was soon noticed by human rights attorney Qasim Rashid, who pointed out that the mass shooting in Copenhagen was Denmark's "first mass shooting since 1994."
By contrast, he said, a mass shooting that occurred in Highland Park, Illinois on July 4, the day after Boebert wrote her tweet, was the first mass shooting in the United States since one that occurred in Richmond, Virginia earlier that same morning.
\u201cDenmark's July 4, 2022 mass shooting was their first mass shooting since 1994\n\nThe July 4, 2022 Highland Park mass shooting was USA's first mass shooting since the July 4, 2022 Richmond mass shooting\n\n1 mass shooting every 30 years vs 1 mass shooting every 3 hours. Gun Laws WORK\u201d— Qasim Rashid, Esq. (@Qasim Rashid, Esq.) 1656959821
In April 1994, a 35-year-old man shot four people, all of them female students, two of them fatally, at Aarhus University in Aarhus, the second-largest city in Denmark. It is the only school shooting to happen in the country's history.
Three separate shootings took place in Copenhagen over the course of a single day in February 2015, all committed by the same perpetrator. In total, two victims and the perpetrator were killed, while five police officers were wounded.
According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been 18 mass shootings in the United States since July 1.
Boebert was rightfully called out online for her false equivalency.
\u201cYesterday a kid in my town jaywalked. We have some of the strictest jaywalking laws in the county. It\u2019s time for us to admit that jaywalking laws don\u2019t work. \ud83e\udd26\ud83c\udffe\u200d\u2642\ufe0fThis applies to every law one can think of. Colorado can y\u2019all please fire this idiot?\u201d— Coach D (@Coach D) 1657031072
\u201cDenmark had 3 mass shootings in the last 28 years.\n\nThe U.S. had 17 mass shootings in the last 5 days.\n\nThe difference is quite clear.\u201d— Public Citizen (@Public Citizen) 1657029773
\u201cthe thoughts and prayers must be working really hard in denmark since they only had 1 mass shooting in 30 years as opposed to the 309 we had here in the us in 2022 alone.\u201d— hasanabi (@hasanabi) 1656967276
\u201cImagine being so stupid that you believe a country with 2 mass shootings in the last DECADE is at all similar to the United States, where there have been over 200 mass shootings THIS YEAR ALONE.\u201d— Michael O\u2019Brien, MD \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 (@Michael O\u2019Brien, MD \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08) 1656968511
\u201cCanadian here. We have mass shootings and even vehicular homicides. Restrictions don\u2019t stop them but they LIMIT them by cutting off the irresponsible.\n\nThe difference? You don\u2019t even BOTHER limiting, so you have SO MANY MORE mass shootings than the rest of the developed world.\u201d— Alex Rochon (@Alex Rochon) 1656979480
\u201cDenmark: Shooter apprehended in 11 minutes. \nFirst mass shooting in 7 years. \n\nThere was at least 4 mass shootings yesterday alone. \nUvalde:\n Police stood outside for over an hour while children were being slaughtered .\nYou have nothing to be proud of!\u201d— M-A.Stay\u2019Legit \u2122\ufe0f\ud83c\udde8\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\udde9\ud83c\uddea (@M-A.Stay\u2019Legit \u2122\ufe0f\ud83c\udde8\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\udde9\ud83c\uddea) 1657002122
\u201cShe's too stupid to know she makes the point for strict gun laws. Denmarks first mass shooting in 7 years. USA had more than that this weekend and 313 this year along with 10,142 homicides and 853 kids 0-17 killed.\n\nHer stupidity would be comical if it weren't deadly.\u201d— Eric Rosen (@Eric Rosen) 1657019066
\u201cWow let\u2019s take a look at this years total\n\nDenmark: 1\n\nUS: 309\n\nIt\u2019s July 5th\u201d— Corey B (@Corey B) 1657025564
\u201cIt\u2019s the first mass shooting in 6 years. Three were killed. 19 children were killed in Texas but go on Lauren.\u201d— The New Evangelicals (@The New Evangelicals) 1656951236
Boebert has long opposed comprehensive gun control measures to limit mass shootings.
She was criticized in May after she attempted to use the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 to argue against gun control in the wake of the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.
Boebert, speaking after a gunman murdered 19 children and two teachers, said gun control won't limit mass shootings because “when 9/11 happened, we didn’t ban planes.”
Boebert insisted she wants "our schools secured," to see "our children protected," and for there to be "teachers that can protect themselves and their students," adding all of this can be achieved "without trying to disarm law-abiding citizens.”
Last year, after Kentucky Republican Representative Thomas Massie was criticized for tweeting a family photo in which he and six family members each brandished a military-style weapon in front of a Christmas tree, Boebert responded to Massie's photo with a picture of her four equally armed children.
"The Boeberts have your six," Boebert tweeted to Massie, using a military saying that means, "I've got your back" even though neither politician has military experience.
House Oversight Committee
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