Meh, I think it WOULD have been reasonable to write an article like this:

"Are shootings on military bases common?
...or was what happened at Fort Hood unusual?"

That's a neutrally-worded question that DOES seem appropriate in this context, and could have been answered in an objective, explainer-type way. Problem was, the ACTUAL article was (and, infuriatingly, still is) headlined:

"Are shootings on military bases common?
...not as common as you'd think."

This IS offensive. I don't think that shootings would be or are common, because I know that the personnel on military bases are among the best and most honorable people in our country. I'd fully EXPECT that violent crime there would be much less common than elsewhere. And maybe it's infantile thinking like this that prevents our servicemen and women from carrying their service weapons on base, and made it possible for this lunatic to shoot 13 of our Soldiers rather than, say, 1 or 0 as he might have managed if everyone were armed.