The following table lists notable worldwide mass and school shootings from 1996 to the present. What distinguishes mass shootings from other incidences of gun crime—mob violence, racial lynchings, et cetera—is not entirely clear. Most commonly, mass shootings are defined as events in which a lone perpetrator or a small group of perpetrators uses firearms to kill three or more victims. The highest figures given by the Gun Violence Archive qualify it by the number of people shot, rather than the number of people killed. School shootings by contrast have no numerical qualifier; a school shooting is any incidence of gun violence occurring at or in the vicinity of an educational institution. The full scope of gun violence in the U.S. and abroad is immense. In the U.S. alone there were 346 mass shootings in 2017, or about one per day. Despite attempts by nonprofits like the Gun Violence Archive and by government agencies, it is almost impossible to present every mass shooting. Rather, these are modern shootings that garnered particular attention or had a lasting cultural impact. Find the date, location, and a short description of each incident.
See also Milestones in Federal Gun Control Legislation. Sources: Newspaper reports.
|