Some 14,600 people have died from gun violence in the US so far in 2023. While the majority of gun victims die by suicide, in each of the last three years there have been more than 600 mass shootings. And the country may break this record in 2023.
The tragic killing of nine and injuring of eight others at a crowded mall outside Dallas on Saturday is just part of a seemingly endless story. It was the second-deadliest shooting of the year, after the Monterey Park, California, massacre in which a gunman killed 11 in a ballroom on January 21st.
There have been 201 mass shootings across the US so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive. But in 2020 such mass shootings – incidents in which four or more are injured or killed – accounted for barely 1.1 per cent of US gun deaths. The mass shootings make the headlines, but the problem is widespread, with an impact across US society.
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Escalating gun deaths coincide with the steady rise in gun ownership. Figures from a Swiss-based research project put the number of guns in circulation in the US at 390 million. A study published by a medical journal reports that 7.5 million US adults became new gun owners between January 2019 and April 2021. The US ratio of 120.5 firearms per 100 residents, up from 88 in 2011, far surpasses that of other countries.
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Reports suggest tentatively that Saturday’s killer was interested in far-right, neo-Nazi ideas – he would not have been the first. Gun violence is sparked by a range of motives: murder-suicides and domestic violence; gang retaliation; school shootings; and workplace vendettas. A US Secret Service analysis of 173 mass casualty attacks found that nearly 93 per cent of assailants had dealt with a personal issue prior to their attack, whether it be divorce, health problems, or issues at school or work. Easy access to guns did not cause the killing sprees but made them far easier to carry out.
Fifty-seven per cent of Americans say they want stricter gun laws. Yet the political ability – or will – to deliver this remains absent.