Did You Know?
Know the Issues
U.S. Mass Shooting Statistics 2023:
657 mass shootings
Resulting in 754 deaths and 2,728 injuries.
This averages to 13 mass shootings a week in 2023 [Source]
Top 10 Deadliest Mass Shootings in the United States (2023)
Date
October 25, 2023
January 21, 2023
May 6,2023
January 4, 2023
April 30, 2023
March 27, 2023
January 23, 2023
December 5, 2023
September 17, 2023
June 15, 2023
Location
Deaths
Lewiston, ME
Monterey Park, CA
Allen, TX
Cedar City, UT
Henryetta, OK
Nashville, TN
Half Moon Bay, CA
Austin, TX
Romeoville, IL
Sequatchie, TN
19
12
9
8
7
7
7
6
6
6
Injuries
13
9
7
0
0
0
1
3
0
1
Gun Violence Facts
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580+ Mass Shootings in 2023
Mass shootings have been on the rise. Between January and October 2023, there have been 587 mass shootings in 44 states, resulting in 650 people killed and an additional 2,485 injured. The number of mass shootings each year has risen about 20% year over year since 2019 (7)
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U.S. Averages More Than 13 Mass Shootings Each Week
In 2023, the US is averaging 13 mass shootings a week. The GVA defines a mass shooting as an event where a minimum of four victims are shot, either injured or killed, not including the shooter.
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Assault Weapons Are Weapon of Choice for Mass Shootings
High-capacity semiautomatics (which include assault weapons as a subset) are used between 20% and 58% of all firearm mass murders, and they are used in a particularly high share of public mass shootings. (8)
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Assault Weapons are Made to be Deadly
Wounds caused by assault weapons are more severe and lethal than wounds caused by other firearms, and, particularly when paired with large capacity magazines, assault weapons can injure more people more quickly. Because of this lethality, assault weapons are frequently the guns of choice for individuals who carry out horrific public attacks. An analysis of public mass shootings resulting in four or more deaths found that more than 85% of such fatalities were caused by assault rifles. (7)
How we know an Assault Weapons Ban works
Since the Federal Assaults Weapons ban expired in 2004, the number of mass shooting victims increased 2-3x
Source: https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/
Mass shootings have also become more frequent…
…and more deadly
“When an assault weapon and/or a high-capacity magazine is used in a public mass shooting, nearly 14 times as many people are injured, and twice as many people are killed.”
-Says Dr. Kyleanne Hunter, PhD, a Marine Corps combat veteran, and Senior Political Scientist at RAND Corporation
100 of the mass shootings in the United States between 1982 and October 2023 involved weapons which were obtained legally.
Only 16 incidents involved guns that were obtained illegally.
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Giffords.org: “Gun Policy Remains Divisive, But Several Proposals Still Draw Bipartisan Support,” Pew Research Center, October 18, 2018, https://pewrsr.ch/2P8uH5t
NEJM.org: Current Causes of Death in Children and Adolescents in the United States
Data compiled by March Fourth, updated through August 2022
GunViolenceArchive.org
Giffords.org: Charles DiMaggio et al., “Changes in US Mass Shooting Deaths Associated with the 1994–2004 Federal Assault Weapons Ban: Analysis of Open–source Data,” Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery 86, no. 1 (2019): 11–19.
Giffords.org: Charles DiMaggio et al., “Changes in US Mass Shooting Deaths Associated with the 1994–2004 Federal Assault Weapons Ban: Analysis of Open–source Data,” Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery 86, no. 1 (2019): 11–19.
GunViolenceArchive.org - Mass Shootings in 2023
Giffords.org: Christopher S. Koper, “Assessing the Potential to Reduce Deaths and Injuries from Mass Shootings Through Restrictions on Assault Weapons and Other High‐Capacity Semiautomatic Firearms,” Criminology and Public Policy, Vol. 19, No. 1, 2020.