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Why not D? seems to be correct.
C is absolutely OFS.
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Bunuel can you please explain why C is the correct answer?
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D is clearly weakening the assertion because ac to it mentally unstable people are less likely to carry a firearm than normal human being. (Ac to question each and every mentally unstable person should be confined)
C is totally out of the passage and it has nothing to do with the weakening hence C will be correct
Hope it helps.

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This is a classic situation where you look for an irrelevant answer !

In this case C , is neither strengthening nor weakening, so is the right answer !
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Biswadip
Why not D? seems to be correct.
C is absolutely OFS.

If you review the incorrect options, you'll get the sense that maybe people who are mentally unstable aren't the ones who shoot people. Essentially, that weaken's the argument that these people should be locked up. Reason: Even if they are locked up, the number of shootings will not reduce.

However, C doesn't have any impact on the argument. This is the correct answer.
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could you please explain? I marked answer as D but it does not seem to be the right answer. ­
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Hello GMATNinja, C appears to be the OA. Pls could you help explain how other options can be eliminated? Thank you!
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To find the statement that does not weaken the assertion that confining mentally ill individuals or those considered potential threats to state-owned mental asylums will significantly reduce school shootings, we need to identify the one that either supports this assertion or is irrelevant.

Here is the evaluation of each option:

(A) Out of the 133 acts of shooting in schools committed between 2010 and 2015, only one was committed by persons prohibited from owning arms due to severe mental illness.
This weakens the assertion because it suggests that very few school shootings are committed by individuals with severe mental illness who are already prohibited from owning firearms.

(B) Fewer than 3 percent of the 133 acts of shooting in schools committed between 2010 and 2015 were committed by individuals against whom there were concerns that they were mentally unstable.
This weakens the assertion by indicating that concerns about mental instability were present in only a small percentage of cases, suggesting that targeting this group would not significantly reduce school shootings.

(C) Increasing the minimum age to possess guns is likely to have little effect since most shootings are done using firearms owned by shooter’s parents.
This option is irrelevant to the assertion about confining mentally ill individuals because it addresses gun ownership laws rather than mental health confinement.

(D) A survey showed that people who are in the process of losing their minds or become mentally unstable are way less likely to hold a firearm, let alone discharge one, than a normal human being.
This weakens the assertion because it indicates that mentally unstable individuals are less likely to use firearms.

(E) More than ninety percent of the 133 acts of shooting committed in schools in the recent past have been committed in a well-planned manner by individuals whose psychiatric evaluation reports showed that they score better than an average human being.
This weakens the assertion by suggesting that most school shootings are committed by individuals who are not identified as mentally unstable through psychiatric evaluations.

Since (C) does not weaken the assertion about confining mentally ill individuals, it is the correct answer.­
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