EVERYTOWN RESEARCH & POLICY
Mass Shootings in America
Since 2009, there have been 290 mass shootings in the
United States, resulting in 1626 people shot and killed
and 1075 people shot and wounded.
All Mass Shootings
United States (290)
Dot size indicates the relative number of people shot in
each mass shooting.
All Mass Shootings
2009 – 2022
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EVERYTOWN RESEARCH & POLICY
Data is up to date as of: Dec 9, 2022
November 21, 2020 Reports
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Introduction
Twelve-Year Overview
Most mass shootings happened in private homes
Many mass shooters were prohibited from possessing firearms.
Mass shooters often displayed warning signs
Domestic violence was a part of most mass shootings
Mass shootings involving assault weapons or high-capacity magazines
were far deadlier.
Mass shootings cause indelible harm to survivors and communities
Conclusion
Twelve Years of Mass Shootings in the
United States
An Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund Analysis
Last updated: June 4, 2021
Introduction
n the years between 2009 and 2020, the horrific scenes of mass
I shootings have haunted the nation’s collective conscience. Each
breaking news alert floods the nation with grief and anger at this
senseless, preventable violence. The United States is not the only country
with mental illness, domestic violence, or hate-fueled ideologies, but our
gun homicide rate is 26 times higher than other high-income countries. 1
The difference is easy access to guns. This connection is not just
theoretical. US states with weaker gun laws and higher gun ownership
rates have higher rates of mass shootings. 2
While the popular perception may be that mass shootings are the nation’s
largest share of gun deaths, the data tells a different and more complex
story. In reality, mass shootings are the tip of the iceberg of this country’s
gun violence crisis. More than 99 percent of gun deaths in the US are
from shootings other than mass shootings. 3 Nevertheless, because of the
high number of casualties and often extensive and horrific media
coverage associated with them, each mass shooting sends shockwaves of
pain and harm through families, communities, and the nation. Just like
the daily gun violence that contributes to the more than 110 gun deaths
each day in the US, mass shootings are largely preventable through
evidence-based policy interventions.
Mass shooting casualties since 2009
600
400
200
34
8 6 6 11 5 5 8 11 8 9 5 6
0
17
10
09
13
15
16
18
20
12
19
21
11
14
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
20
947
Shot and wounded
1,363
Shot and killed
10
Shot per mass shooting
This analysis reflects a compilation of 12 years (2009 to 2020) of original
data on mass shootings in the United States, sourced from media reports
and official police and court records. These records enable unique insights
into the circumstances of mass shootings. For full details on data
collection, see our methodology.
Mass shootings are not a random, inevitable element of American life
today. Rather, this report illuminates trends that can help point
lawmakers to strategies to curb these tragedies. These trends include that
mass shootings are often:
perpetrated by someone who was legally prohibited from
possessing a firearm;
perpetrated by someone who displayed prior warning signs;
intermingled with acts of domestic violence; and
far deadlier when they involve assault weapons and high-capacity
magazines.
Definition of a mass
shooting
Everytown defines a mass shooting as any incident in which
four or more people are shot and killed, excluding the shooter.
By this definition, the United States experiences an average of
19 mass shootings every year, ranging from 15 in 2010 and in
2014 to a high of 24 in both 2011 and 2013. However, there exists
no consensus on the definition of a mass shooting. Counts
under other definitions range from a dozen per year to nearly
one mass shooting every day depending on factors such as
casualty thresholds or whether the mass shooting was in public
or not.
By any count, the number of mass shootings that plague this
country is far too high, and the counts are just a small fraction
of the lives left forever changed after the tragedy of a mass
shooting. To read more on Everytown’s definition, see our
methodology.
Twelve-Year Overview
1 in 4
1 in 4 mass shooting victims were children and teens.
Between 2009 and 2020, 1,363 people in the United States were killed and
947 more were wounded in 240 mass shootings, an average of 20
shootings each year. Among the casualties were at least 362 children and
teens killed as well as 21 law enforcement officers killed and 35 wounded.
These numbers are staggering, yet they represent just a small portion of
the lives forever changed after a mass shooting shakes a community with
terror and grief.
Number of mass shootings each year
30
25
20
15
10
2009 2011 2013 L 2015 2017 2019
Number of mass shootings
In nearly all mass shootings over this period, the shooter was an adult
man who acted alone. 4 Thirty-two percent of mass shooters, or 92
shooters, ended with the perpetrator dying by suicide, and another 24
shooters were killed by responding law enforcement. 5 The remaining 145
mass shooters were taken into custody by law enforcement, while the
outcomes and identities of 23 remain unknown.
Most mass shootings happened in private
homes
The archetypal mass shooting occurs in a public place like a school or a
bar. While mass shootings in public places tend to receive more media
attention, the majority of these shootings actually occur in private homes.
Between 2009 and 2020, 61 percent of mass shootings occurred entirely in
the home and another 9 percent occurred partially in a home and
partially in a public location. Thirty percent occurred entirely in public
spaces like schools, malls, or bars. Of these public mass shootings, the
majority (59 percent) occurred at least partially in a place of business such
as a restaurant or retail store, and 11 percent occurred in a school. 6 These
public mass shootings were deadlier: While 39 percent of mass shootings
occurred at least in part in public, they resulted in 51 percent of all mass-
shooting deaths over this 12-year period.
61% of mass shootings occurred entirely in the home
Home(s) only (61%)
Home(s) and public (9%)
Public (30%)
Many mass shooters were prohibited from
possessing firearms.
In the absence of a comprehensive federal law that requires background
checks on all gun sales across the country, criminals, domestic abusers,
and other prohibited people can easily avoid background checks in 29
states simply by buying guns from unlicensed sellers—including strangers
they meet online.
Mass Shooter Legally Prohibited From Having Guns
2009 – 2020
Dot size indicates the relative number of people shot in each mass shooting.
1 in 3
1 in 3 mass shootings involved a shooter that was legally
prohibited from possessing firearms at the time of the
shooting.
The harm posed when people who should not have guns can easily avoid
a background check is particularly evident in mass shootings, where one
in three incidents involved shooters that were legally prohibited from
possessing firearms at the time of the shooting, whether because they had
a felony conviction, had been adjudicated mentally ill by a court of law, or
had a domestic violence restraining order, among other reasons. 7 These
shootings resulted in 364 deaths and 125 injuries, or one in four deaths
and one in 10 injuries, that may have been prevented with a stronger,
more comprehensive background check system. 8
Closing loopholes in our federal and state background check laws can
prevent guns from ending up in the hands of those who are legally
prohibited from having a firearm. Read more about how background
checks save lives and protect communities.
Mass shooters often displayed warning signs
Perpetrators of mass shootings often display warning signs before the
violence, such as engaging in recent acts or threats of violence or
violating a protection order. These warning signs present opportunities
for intervention that could save lives. In fact, in more than half (56
percent) of the mass shootings in this analysis, a shooter exhibited at
least one dangerous warning sign prior to the shooting. Combined,
shooters demonstrating dangerous warning signs took 596 lives and
wounded 260 more, equating to more than half of mass shooting deaths
and a third of all injuries. 9
Mass Shooter Exhibited Dangerous Warning Signs
2009 – 2020
Dot size indicates the relative number of people shot in each mass shooting.
56%
In 56 percent of mass shootings, the shooter exhibited
dangerous warning signs before the shooting.
Everytown for Gun Safety. “Mass Shootings in America 2009-2020”. Everytown fo…
The fact that so many mass shooters displayed warning signs prior to
their acts of violence highlights the opportunities to intervene and
prevent these tragedies. Extreme Risk laws are one such opportunity.
Sometimes referred to as “red flag” laws, these laws empower loved ones
and law enforcement who recognize warning signs to petition a court to
temporarily restrict a person’s access to firearms when they pose a
significant risk of using them to cause harm. Research shows Extreme
Risk laws are effective in saving lives, especially in cases of firearm
suicide. Read more about the research here.
Domestic violence was a part of most mass
shootings
Although many people think of mass shootings as random acts of
violence, this analysis shows that most mass shootings are not at all
random: In at least 53 percent of mass shootings between 2009 and 2020,
the perpetrator shot a current or former intimate partner or family
member during the rampage. These domestic violence-related mass
shootings resulted in at least 632 people shot and killed and 106 people
wounded, amounting to almost half of all mass shooting deaths and one
in ten injuries.
Mass Shootings Involving Intimate Partner or Family
Victim(s)
2009 – 2020
Dot size indicates the relative number of people shot in each mass shooting.
Nearly 3 in 4 children and teens killed in
mass shootings died in an incident
connected to domestic violence.
53%
53 percent of mass shootings were domestic violence-related.
Too often, children and teens are the victims of domestic violence mass
shootings: Of the 362 children and teens killed in all mass shootings in
the past 12 years, nearly three in four (72 percent) died in an incident
connected to intimate partner or family violence.
The findings about domestic violence-related mass shootings and where
mass shootings tend to occur are interlinked. Nearly all of these domestic
violence-related shootings involved at least one victim in a private home
(93 percent), and 80 percent of them occurred there entirely and never
moved into a public space. 10
79% of domestic violence-related shootings occurred
entirely in the home
Home(s) only (80%)
Home(s) and public (13%)
Public (7%)
Everytown for Gun Safety. “Mass Shootings in America 2009-2020”. Everytown for Gun
Safety. (2021). https://bit.ly/3fQBlc2
In at least 71 mass shootings, the shooter had a known previous history of
domestic violence. In 56 of those mass shootings, the shooter shot and
killed an intimate partner or family member as part of their rampage.
Intimate partner and family violence are far more likely to turn deadly
when guns are involved. Abusers with firearms are five times more likely
to kill their female victims, and guns further exacerbate the power and
control dynamic used by abusers to inflict emotional abuse and exert
coercive control over their victims. 11 Read more about the deadly nexus
between domestic violence and guns and the policies that help prevent
domestic homicides here.
Mass shootings involving assault weapons
or high-capacity magazines were far
deadlier.
When assault weapons and high-capacity magazines were used in mass
shootings, they resulted in far more deaths and injuries. Between 2009
and 2020, the five deadliest mass shooting incidents in the US all involved
the use of assault weapons and/or high-capacity magazines: Las Vegas,
Orlando, Newtown, Sutherland Springs, and El Paso. 12
Assault weapons and high-capacity magazines were disproportionately
used in public mass shootings. Of the shootings with known weapon
type, 76 percent of those that involved an assault weapon and/or high-
capacity magazine occurred in public compared to 44 percent of those
that involved a handgun. 13
81%
81 percent of mass shootings involved a handgun.
Everytown for Gun Safety. “Mass Shootings in America 2009-2020”. Everytown for Gun
Safety. (2021). https://bit.ly/3fQBlc2
16%
16 percent of mass shootings involved an assault weapon.
Everytown for Gun Safety. “Mass Shootings in America 2009-2020”. Everytown for Gun
Safety. (2021). https://bit.ly/3fQBlc2
55%
55 percent of mass shootings involved a high-capacity magazine.
Everytown for Gun Safety. “Mass Shootings in America 2009-2020”. Everytown for Gun
Safety. (2021). https://bit.ly/3fQBlc2
HANDGUNS
Most mass shootings—81 percent—involved the use of at least one
handgun, and 60 percent involved only handguns. 14 At least 17 shooters
used only a handgun with a high-capacity magazine.
ASSAULT WEAPONS
Assault weapons are generally high-powered, semiautomatic firearms
designed to fire rounds at a greater velocity than most other firearms, and,
when combined with high-capacity magazines, they enable a shooter to
fire a devastating number of rounds over a short period. In the 12 years
from 2009 to 2020, there were at least 30 mass shootings (16 percent of
those with known weapon data) that involved the use of an assault
weapon, resulting in 347 deaths and 719 injuries. In other words, mass
shootings that involved an assault weapon accounted for 25 percent of all
