Recent US Dark Record For Mass Shootings

Photo by Tsvetoslav Hristov on Unsplash

JAKARTA - Seven people died in mass shootings at two locations in the City of Half Moon Bay, northern California, United States. The incident put the US on a bad record when it comes to mass shootings.

According to CNN, citing data from the Gun Violence Archive (GVA), there have been 39 mass shootings in the US so far in 2023. And just so you know, that number is a record for any year.

The 39 mass shootings in the United States so far this year make 2023 the most mass media killings to date. In the span of three days, three mass shootings have taken place in California, including Monday's shooting in Half Moon Bay.

The rate of dangerous mass shootings increased in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic and has continued since then. Between 2019 and 2020, the total number of mass shootings each year jumped from 417 to 610.

Then, 2021 was the worst year for mass shootings since the GVA began tracking them in 2012, with 690 across 44 states and Washington, DC. There were 647 mass killings in 2022.

GVA data shows increased mass shootings after May 2020, compared to trends in previous years. Shootings doubled in July 2020 compared to the previous year, as researchers noted in the journal JAMA Open Network in analyzing GVA data between April 2020 and July 2021.

The increase in mass shootings has occurred with an increase in overall gun violence during the pandemic. The US gun homicide rate in 2020 was the highest recorded since 1994.