Over the past 6 years, the total number of mass shootings have increased. This data has been collected from the GunViolenceArchive website, which is a non-profit organization providing a real-time update on the number of gun violence incidents. Looking at the numbers above, the mass shootings approximately doubled in 2020. Could this be due to the pandemic or did it have to do with 2020 being the election year? The figures below shows the number of people injured and killed due to these mass shootings where we again see a similar trend of the numbers going up in the election year 2020 (and 2016) compared to previous years.
However, the trend that has remained similar are the states where these incidents have occurred. The following figures look at the distribution of mass shootings across the various states for the years of 2015 and 2020. In the years 2015 and 2020, Texas and California remained the leading states for the number of people killed due to mass shootings. Whether this is a coincidence or it truly reflects the unhappiness or the violent undercurrent in these states needs to be understood.
In decreasing order, the states with the highest number of casualties(including both people killed and injured) in 2015 were California, Illinois, Texas, Florida and New York. In 2020, the states with the highest number of casualties due to mass shootings were Illinois, Texas, California, Louisiana and Florida. So, the states with mass shooting casualties have predominantly remained the same and this seems to go beyond the party lines, since, California has been a stronghold democratic state for the past many years.
The following figure looks at the relative increase in the number of people killed in mass shootings in the various states over the years. According to this graph, majority of the states saw a steep rise in the number of people killed in the mass shootings in the election year 2016 when President Trump was elected. Also as indicated in this graph, while the number of people killed in mass shootings in California has remained amongst the highest, the number has been quite steady through the years. However, for states of Texas, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Louisiana, the numbers have steeply increased since 2014 and these states have also seen volatility with the election cycle. Illinois, Georgia and Florida also saw a sharp increase in the numbers in the election year, while the slope of increase in numbers is somewhat moderate.
The year 2019–2020 also saw a rise of cyber surveillance including increased cyber hacking, social distancing, increased unemployment, increased domestic surveillance, increased government surveillance of all forms of communication. The mass surveillance conducted by the government is no longer a secret. Monitoring of immigrants from certain regions of the world is also no longer a secret. Several details have been released about “The Program”, the NSA’s domestic spying program, first established by President George W. Bush. Could that have also played a role in the rise of these incidents due to increased displeasure at monitoring, especially since most of the rise in numbers have been in the election years. However, the one thing that I do not understand is with the amount of resources currently available for monitoring and surveillance why aren’t they put to monitor the activities of people who own guns? After all, they are the ones with the most resources to weaponize and bring harm to the public. Is it because of the underlying politics (according to the trends, there is a high probability that is true)? Is it because of the gun lobby which renders support to the politicians? Or is it because compared to the number of people killed by the pandemic or annually in road accidents, the number of people killed in mass shootings or gun incidents in general seems small. However, there is a major difference. The road accidents are mostly unintentional. Yes, several road accidents may be preventable and increased measures have been taken to reduce the number of road accidents. This is reflected by the sharp decrease in the number of traffic fatalities over the past decades. The following figure was originally published in Wiki.
“We cannot let a minority of people — and that’s what it is, it is a minority of people — hold a viewpoint that terrorizes the majority of people.”
- Hillary Clinton
Number of people killed by the pandemic or other natural causes, while may be reduced by advances in healthcare and drug development, are not executions intentionally committed by living beings. However, mass shootings are acts of executions intentionally ceded by living beings. Why they resort to these acts of violence, I do not understand and I think more needs to be done to understand the common link between these incidents and if they can be prevented by any means. Are the rise in mass shootings correlated with a rise in gun sales? Can the red flag law implemented in California be extended to other states to block access to guns? Can the second amendment of “Right to Arm” be further modified to reflect the necessities of the age we live in. In this era, where technology has brought the entire world closer, there are hardly any “remote” places in this country which would justify the need of the general public to bear arms. How many more lives have to be sacrificed, how many more tears have to be shed before there is a change? Or is the cycle of guns and roses and candle light vigils gonna go on forever?
