A couple of years back, I started to map out the number of mass shootings (defined as incidents in which 4 or more individual are killed or injured by gun-violence by www.gunviolencearchives.org) at the end of each year. 1
I selected mass shootings to study mainly because they are a uniquely American phenomenon where increased accessibility more lethal firearms have led to horrific incidents of mass shootings where disaffected individual or individuals target civilians in schools, supermarkets, festivals, etc to cause carnage and fear in order to make a statement, or for no particular reason at all. If interested, check out my Story Map on this topic.
2024 ended with more than one mass shooting per day at 505 in total. The map above depicts each mass shooting as a red machine gun accurately geo-referenced to where it actually occurred across the United States. While California and Washington State has clusters of mass shootings in each state, the vast majority of mass shootings are in the eastern half of the country where most of the U.S. population live. Horrific as the number seems, 2024 is a huge improvement over 2023, which saw 655 mass shootings.
- Gun Violence Archives publishes incidents of gun violence in the United States on a daily basis. It covers incidents where people are killed or injured by guns. It breaks down incidents of killings by police using guns, incidents where children are killed by guns, unintentional or accidental killings or injuries caused by guns, and even suicides by guns. ↩︎