The Daily Caller, June 2021
The number of gun-related homicides in the U.S. has skyrocketed since last year, and some are concerned a new wave of gun violence this summer could be even worse than the record-breaking number of homicides in 2020.
A series of mass shootings in Austin, Texas, and other cities earlier in June brought the total number of such incidents this year to 294, according to the Gun Violence Archive. The nonprofit research group reported 611 mass shootings in 2020 amid a surge in violent crime attributed in part to civil unrest following George Floyd’s death.
But mass shootings, which the Gun Violence Archive defines as shootings involving four or more people who were shot, are just one portion of the total number of gun-related homicides. More than 9,300 people have died from such incidents in the U.S. this year and experts worry “we may be entering a new period” of gun violence, according to The Associated Press (AP).
It may be common for news outlets to report mass shootings by connecting those incidents to the perpetrator’s possible political or other such personal motivations. Democrats in the White House and Congress have also justified gun control policies by citing mass shootings and gun violence.
