U.S. Passes 400 Mass Shootings In 2023–On Pace For Deadliest Year

Topline

Seven mass shootings across the country over the weekend brought the number of mass shootings in the U.S. this year to more than 400, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive, surpassing the number of shootings at this point last year and putting 2023 on pace to be the deadliest year in at least a decade.

Officials from the Crime Scene Unit investigate the crime scene of the mass shooting in Philadelphia … [+] earlier this month.

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Key Facts

The U.S. has reported 402 mass shootings since the start of the year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which tracks shootings in which at least four people are killed or injured, not including the shooter.

The most recent shootings came Saturday in Houston, when a gunman injured five people inside a bar, leading local police on a search for the suspect, while a separate incident during an illegal auto race in Seattle left four people injured, including one who was critically injured.

With more than 400 shootings so far this year, 2023 has surpassed the number of mass shootings reported at this point last year, when 359 people were killed in 365 mass shootings through July 23, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

Big Number

453. That’s how many people have been killed in mass shootings so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

Tangent

Some 161 children under age 12 have been killed in all recorded shootings this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, while nearly 400 have been injured. Another 855 teens between 13 and 17 have been killed in all shootings in 2023, with 2,334 injured, the Gun Violence Archive reported.

Key Background

A string of mass shootings this winter—including a pair of attacks in California that left 11 people dead at a dance hall in Monterey Park, and two shootings in Half Moon May that killed seven people—resounded a national debate over gun reform, with President Joe Biden announcing new gun control measures this spring. Another 17 mass shootings were reported over the Fourth of July weekend, including an attack in Shreveport, Louisiana, that left four people dead and at least six injured, while a shooting last week in Hampton, Georgia, killed four people and left another three injured.

Contra

Despite Democrats’ years-long push for gun violence measures—including last June’s Bipartisan Safer Communities Act and Biden’s executive order in March aimed at expanding background checks and incentivizing the passage of so-called red-flag laws—many measures have fallen flat due to GOP pushback, particularly a proposed assault weapons ban. While legislation that has passed, such as the Safer Communities Act, have been heralded for taking sweeping action to reduce gun violence, those acts have stopped short of banning assault rifles or high-capacity magazines, instead focusing on other preventative measures such as background checks and red-flag laws, which prevent individuals believed to be a threat from obtaining weapons. GOP lawmakers have instead focused on mental health issues believed to be tied to mass shootings, while some GOP-led states have pushed for armed resource officers at public schools to stop mass shootings.