Mass shootings toll exceeds 900 in past seven years
By Fredreka Schouten, Meghan Hoyer and Paul Overberg USA TODAY5:58a.m. EST February 22, 2013
More than 900 people died in mass shootings during the past seven years, and a majority of them were killed by people they knew, according to a USA TODAY analysis of gun-related slayings.
The 934 deaths account for less than 1% of all gun-related homicides, and nearly half involve a suspect slaying his or her family members, the detailed examination shows. USA TODAY combed through FBI records and news accounts to identify 146 mass shootings since 2006 that matched the FBI definition of mass shooting, where four or more people were killed.
A separate analysis of 56 mass shootings since 2009 provided to USA TODAY by a group of mayors promoting gun control reaches similar conclusions. More than half – 57% – of cases examined by Mayors Against Illegal Guns involved domestic violence. The group, co-founded by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, is made up of more than 850 U.S. mayors.
"Mass shootings … are the tragedies that capture the public's attention," Mark Glaze, director of Mayors Against Illegal Guns said Thursday. "But every day, 33 Americans are being killed, mostly with handguns and distressingly often, by a family member or intimate partner."
The new data come as federal and local policymakers attempt to address gun violence in the wake of the Dec. 14 mass shooting in Newtown, Conn., that killed 20 schoolchildren and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Public revulsion over the massacre has spurred Congress to weigh a renewal of the federal assault-weapons ban and consider other gun-control measures, including a ban on magazines that exceed 10 rounds.
more:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/02/21/mass-shootings-domestic-violence-nra/1937041/
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