Myth: Mass shooters likely target gun-free areas. Gun lobbyists often use this myth to deter legislative efforts to restrict the carrying of firearms in certain places deemed particularly sensitive or inappropriate for firearms, such as schools, places of worship or government buildings. However, the vast majority of fatal shootings in the United States occur in places where guns are or are not explicitly prohibited, such as private homes or public places.52 Myth: The criminal justice reform movement is responsible for the recent increase in violent crime in the country. Since 2020, the United States has seen a rapid increase in violent crime, with an increase in homicides, serious assaults, and mass shootings. To divert public attention from efforts to strengthen gun laws, the NRA and conservative politicians have sought to blame the criminal justice reform movement for the recent rise in violent crime.61 However, evidence suggests that guns are the driving force behind this rise. The fact that the majority of these criminals made their entry-level purchases through legal means reflects the profound inadequacy of local, state, and federal laws to track down or deter mass shooters, law enforcement officials, researchers, and the families of those they killed. In 2020, the most recent year for which complete data is available, 45,222 people died from gunshot wounds in the United States, according to the CDC. That number includes gun homicides and gun suicides, as well as three other less common types of firearm-related deaths tracked by the CDC: those that were unintentional, those involving law enforcement, and those whose circumstances could not be determined. The total number excludes deaths in which gunshot wounds played a contributing but not main role. (CDC death statistics are based on information in official death certificates that give a single cause of death.) The fact that leaks are frequent in mass shootings offers an opportunity for intervention. Anonymous reporting systems can increase the likelihood of leaks and are an important area for further investigation.
Threat assessment teams responding with a holistic, collaborative response approach are promising. These results were true even when various factors were taken into account and whether or not the mass shootings were committed by someone closely connected to the victims. These sobering statistics illustrate the severity of the gun violence epidemic in the United States: FACT: “Most countries have no problem with deadly mass shootings,” Webster told Fox News in Los Angeles. “Most countries don`t have the same homicide rates as we do. It is mainly powered. Because we have decided to make firearms accessible to almost everyone, and our interest seems to be more in protecting those who sell and want to own firearms than the general public. “The reality in this country now is that anyone who wants to harm themselves or someone else can easily acquire the means to do so — legally,” said Fred Guttenberg, whose 14-year-old daughter, Jaime, was killed in the 2018 shooting in Parkland, Florida. T. Christian Heyne, vice president of the Brady gun control group, said the only way to stop the killings is to introduce increased universal federal background checks to make up for the huge differences between state and local laws. But that proposal stalled in the Senate, despite overwhelming public support. Fact: Efforts to place more guns in schools have caused damage. Instead of passing meaningful gun regulations in response to mass shootings, the federal government has invested millions of dollars in arming school officials to fuel a $2.7 billion school safety market.22 Despite these reactions, clear evidence suggests that law enforcement on campus has not stopped the increase in gunfire on school grounds:23 The data Many people who participate in mass shootings study former mass shooters — one in five (21.6%) have studied other mass shooters.
And many are radicalizing online. The researchers recommended media literacy as a way to help people consume information critically and counter extremist propaganda that facilitates violence.