US Mass Killings Could Set Tragic Record This Year

US Mass Killings² Could Set Tragic³ Record This Year

The United States is on a record pace for mass killings in 2023.

A mass killing¹ usually involves firearms and is defined as an attack in which four or more people are killed not including the attacker or attackers.

This year's violence has ended 88 lives in 17 attacks over more than 100 days. Only 2009 was marked by as many tragedies of this kind in the same period of time.

Here are some of the attacks that took place:

Is anywhere safe?

Children at a Nashville grade school were gunned down on a school day by a former student. Farmworkers in Northern California were sprayed with bullets by a fellow worker because of a dispute. A man killed dancers celebrating the Lunar New Year at a dance place outside Los Angeles.

On April 15, four partygoers were killed and 32 injured in Dadeville, Alabama. Three young men were charged with opening fire at a birthday celebration in the town for a 16-year-old girl. Days later, a man shot and killed four people, including his parents, in Bowdoin, Maine. Then he opened fire on vehicles traveling on a busy highway. He had just been released from prison.

"Nobody should be shocked," said Fred Guttenberg.

In 2018, his 14-year-old daughter, Jaime, was one of 17 people killed at a school in Parkland, Florida. "I visit my daughter in a cemetery⁴. Outrage⁵ doesn't begin to describe how I feel."

The Parkland victims are among the 2,842 people who have died in mass killings in the U.S. since 2006. That number comes from records kept by The Associated Press (AP) and the USA Today newspaper, in partnership⁶ with Northeastern University in Boston.

Tragic records set

An examination of the data from those organizations shows that mass killings happen, on average, once every 6.53 days. They represent a small part of the deadly violence that takes place yearly in the U.S.

The U.S. recorded 30 or fewer mass killings in more than half of the years of the database.

The pace of mass shootings so far this year does not mean the U.S will have the most attacks this year. In 2009, the violence slowed, and the year finished with 32 mass killings and 172 deaths. Those numbers are just above the averages of 31.1 mass killings and 162 victims a year as suggested by the AP and USA Today data.

Tragic records have been set within the last 10 years. The data shows a high of 45 mass killings in 2019 and 230 people killed in such tragedies in 2017. That year, 60 people died when a gunman opened fire over an outdoor country music celebration in Las Vegas, Nevada. That incident remains⁷ the deadliest mass shooting in modern America.

"Here's the reality: If somebody is determined⁸ to commit mass violence, they're going to," said Jaclyn Schildkraut. She heads the Rockefeller Institute of Government's Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium. She said it is important to put up barriers to mass violence.

'We don't have to live this way'

Some states have tried to place more controls on guns with state laws. On April 13, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed a new law ordering criminal background investigations⁹ for the purchase of firearms including rifles and shotguns. In the past, such investigations were required only of handgun buyers.

This week, the governor of Washington state signed a law banning many kinds of semi-automatic rifles.

Other states are experiencing a new round of pressure. In conservative Tennessee, protesters gathered at the state Capitol building to demand more gun laws after six people were killed at a religious elementary school last month.

Last year, President Joe Biden signed a federal gun violence law. It expands background investigations into the youngest gun buyers and red flag laws. Red flag laws enable police to ask courts for an order to take guns from people who show signs they could turn violent.

Sometimes mass killings happen in groups — like in January, when deadly events in California took place just two days apart. Then, months pass without mass violence.

"We shouldn't necessarily expect that this — one mass killing every less than seven days — will continue," said Northeastern University criminologist James Alan Fox, who oversees¹⁰ the database. "Hopefully it won't."

Experts and activists¹² denounce the sale of guns in the U.S. in recent years. Record sales were reported during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

John Feinblatt leads the nonprofit group Everytown for Gun Safety. Feinblatt said, "We have to know that this isn't the way to live." He added: "We don't have to live this way. And we cannot live in a country with an agenda of guns everywhere..."

The National Rifle Association, which supports the rights of gun owners, did not answer the AP's request for comment.

Jaime Guttenberg would be 19 years old now. Her father, Fred, now is a gun control activist¹¹. He wants some kind of action.

Guttenberg said, "It's all in the numbers. The numbers don't lie. But we need to do something immediately to fix it."

Words in This Story

pace –n. rate of movement

spray v. to project spray or something resembling spray on or into

cemetery –n. a burial ground for the dead

outrage –n. anger and resentment¹³ resulting from injury or insult

rifle –n. a long gun

 

semi-automatic –adj. describing a gun that must have the trigger pulled for each shot fired but that loads automatically

1 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

2 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

3 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

4 cemetery   

n.坟墓，墓地，坟场

参考例句：

• He was buried in the cemetery.他被葬在公墓。
• His remains were interred in the cemetery.他的遗体葬在墓地。

5 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

6 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

7 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

8 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

9 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

10 oversees   

v.监督，监视( oversee的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She oversees both the research and the manufacturing departments. 她既监督研究部门又监督生产部门。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Department of Education oversees the federal programs dealing with education. 教育部监管处理教育的联邦程序。 来自互联网

11 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

12 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 resentment   

n.怨愤，忿恨

参考例句：

• All her feelings of resentment just came pouring out.她一股脑儿倾吐出所有的怨恨。
• She cherished a deep resentment under the rose towards her employer.她暗中对她的雇主怀恨在心。