America's unique gun problem, in 5 charts
We are different. And not in a good way.
NOTE: This post originally ran in January following back-to-back mass shootings. I am off today at a field trip for my son but I thought it was worth re-posting this in the wake of the shooting over the weekend in Texas that left 8 dead and 7 more wounded. REMINDER: This is a uniquely American problem.
Three days ago in Monterey Park, California, 12 people were killed and nine injured in a mass shooting.
Even as those victims were being mourned, another mass shooting occurred in California — this time in Half Moon Bay, leaving 7 dead and 1 injured.
According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been 5 other mass shooting incidents over the last three days in America. So, 7 total. (The Archive defines a mass shooting as “a minimum of four victims shot, either injured or killed, not including any shooter who may also have been killed or injured in the incident.”)
This is a problem that is unique to America. No other country in the world has the problem with gun violence that we do.
But, words tell the story less well than pictures. So here are 5 charts that paint America’s gun problem in stark relief.
This is a map of the mass shootings so far in 2023 alone.
This chart via the BBC shows that not only do we have a massive number of mass shootings, they are on the rise in recent years.
This chart from the New York Times compares the U.S. to the rest of the world when it comes to guns and homicide rates. That’s us way in the top right-hand corner.
This chart shows that there are more guns than people in America. Yes, you read that right.
This chart explores long term public sentiment toward gun control laws in America.
So, in conclusion: We have more guns than any other developed country. We have more gun homicides than any other country in the developed world. We are in the midst of a years-long surge in mass shootings in this country.
It’s grim. Really damn grim.
It’s shameful and so sad.
Wow that’s quite the unique problem after seeing your analysis, and one that will take years to fix...well done as always Chris! Also as I pray 🙏 for these victims’ families each time that it happens I can’t help think there are way too many/easy access to guns for people who shouldn’t have them as well as there has been a loss for so many of Jesus as their True North...a loss of morals, faith and a sacred need for justice to others. When my Dad went to school in the 1930’s, he and his friends carried their rifles to school during hunting season and stacked them unloaded in the corner of the one-room schoolhouse, to go hunting after school on the long walk home, never a thought of evil...the faith based culture of right and wrong deeply-seated. From then............to now...........on so many levels........we have lost our way😔