&gt; there is ample evidence that guns only turn the phrase &quot;mass killing&quot; into the phrase &quot;mass shooting&quot;.<p>Not so sure about that. Did you hear about the following? A crazy guy with a knife might kill or seriously would a handful of people at most. With a gun the number of deaths is likely to be much higher.<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.theguardian.com&#x2F;uk-news&#x2F;2015&#x2F;dec&#x2F;05&#x2F;suspect-custody-after-stabbing-leytonstone-london-underground-station" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.theguardian.com&#x2F;uk-news&#x2F;2015&#x2F;dec&#x2F;05&#x2F;suspect-custo...</a><p>&gt;We don&#x27;t talk about &quot;mass burnings&quot; when people are killed with arson or &quot;mass poisonings&quot; when people are attack with poison gas.<p>The phrase &quot;mass poisoning&quot; is in fact used, but in accord with the usual meaning of &quot;poisoning&quot; tends to be restricted to cases where poison was introduced into food or water. &quot;Mass burning&quot; is not used simply because English does not typically use the noun &quot;burning&quot; to refer to deaths by burning.