It’s not quite the fourth month of the year, and according to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been 130 mass shootings in 2023.
Mass shootings, as defined by the FBI, is when one or more than one individual is “actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a populated area.” While the FBI has not set an exact number for the amount of casualties to constitute a mass shooting, the Investigative Assistance for Violent Crimes Act of 2012 defines “mass killing,” as “three or more killings in a single incident,” according to Brittanica.
Six people died on Monday as a result of a mass shooting at Nashville’s the Covenant School, a private elementary school in conjunction with and located on the grounds of Covenant Presbyterian Church.
Three children senselessly robbed of their lives; three adults, including the active shooter, murdered. Six lives lost, hundreds of family and friends affected, thousands rattled in the community, and millions of Americans and people around the world mourning yet another mass shooting– one of 130 in less than four months.
Firearms are the leading cause of death for children in the United States. This year alone, 59 children ages 0-11 and 347 teens 12-17 were killed due to gun violence, the Gun Violence Archives reports.
The total number of gun violence deaths this year thus far, for all causes, is more than 10,000.
These statistics alone should be a big enough wake-up call for lawmakers surrounding gun reform.
If the five-figure fatalities isn’t enough to change the minds of firearm enthusiasts, gun rights activists and politicians alike, then let’s think about the children at least.
According to an April 2021 Pew Research Center Study, 48% of Americans saw gun violence as a major issue and 53% supported some level of gun reform or stricter laws.
However, here we are, not quite in April 2023, and families have to bury their loved ones because 28-year-old Audrey Hale, who used he/him pronouns, entered the Covenant School armed with two AR-style guns, a rifle, a pistol and a handgun.
With the statistics from this year alone, Hale’s violence isn’t isolated, but rather a reminder that gun reform is necessary to reverse the tragic statistics this country currently faces.