In a recent study that spanned nearly ten years, the states in the US with the highest frequency of mass shootings were identified.
From January 2014 to December 2022, there were 4,011 mass shootings nationwide, according to a report released on Wednesday by the JAMA Network Open journal. Four or more persons had to be shot or killed for a mass shooting to be considered one.
Hawaii and North Dakota had no mass shootings, while Illinois had the most with 414. The study presented the number of mass shootings per million persons using data from the Gun Violence Archive.
It was discovered that Washington, DC, has the highest rate of mass shootings—10.4 per million residents—followed by Louisiana (4.2 per million) and Illinois (3.6 per million).
The study claims that a geographic examination of mass shooting incidents revealed a clustering around Illinois and the southeast region of the US.
“Mass shootings related to crime, social issues, and DV (domestic violence) followed a similar pattern, whereas mass shootings not related to these issues were more evenly distributed across the US.”
In addition to the two states without mass shootings, New Hampshire, Idaho, Utah, and West Virginia have the lowest rates with 0.08 per million people, 0.13 per million, and 0.21 per million respectively.
The four states with the largest populations fell in the middle. With 1.04 per million people, California had the highest rate of mass shootings. According to the survey, Texas had 1.05 per million, Florida had 1.25 per million, and New York had 1.05 per million.
For all 50 states plus the District of Columbia, the median number of mass shootings per state was discovered to be 45. Over the course of the nine-year period, mass shootings resulted in the deaths or injuries of 21,006 individuals.
About one-third of the shootings over the time period were social-related, or 27.3%. According to the survey, additional reasons for absence included 15.8% connected to crime, 11.1% related to domestic abuse, and 1.4% related to employment or education. The remaining 52% did not fall under those headings.
“Firearm injury prevention specialists can direct them towards how to prevent them by understanding where mass shootings occur across the nation and more about the context, such as how frequently these tragic events happen in homes,” The study’s co-author and head of the Injury and Violence Prevention Centre at the Colorado School of Public Health, Ashley Brooks-Russell, made this statement.