Mass shootings in US hit new record in 2023, highest since 2006

There have been more mass shootings with four or more deaths in 2023 than in any year since at least 2006, according to gun violence data.

There have been 38 mass killings this year, up from last year’s previous high of 36, The Washington Post’s gun violence database shows.

A pair of shootings in Dallas and Vancouver, Wash., on Sunday broke the record and pushed the number of deaths in such shootings to 197 — excluding the gunmen.

Mass killings have been on the rise in recent years, especially since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. There were 21 mass killings in 2020, a rate which increased to 31 in 2021 and 36 in 2022.

The country is also on track to fall just short of the record for total number of mass shootings, incidents which injure at least four people. There have been 630 mass shootings in the U.S. so far in 2023, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Last year’s total was 645 mass shootings, and 2021’s mark of 690 is the record

American fears about crime are at decades-long highs, despite violent crime falling in 2022 compared to the year prior — the most recent data available from the FBI.

The most significant mass shooting this year was in Lewiston, Maine, where a shooter killed 18 people and injured 13 others in October. He fled the scene, sparking a days-long search, but was later found dead. 

The Lewiston shooting sparked renewed interest in passing gun control legislation in Congress, a longtime priority of Democrats. 

Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) was joined by Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) and others this month in introducing a new gun control measure to limit firearm magazine sizes and purchase restrictions.

The White House also founded the Office of Gun Violence Prevention in September, with the exclusive aim of reducing the number of firearms deaths in the country. 

“If members of Congress refuse to act, then we need to elect members of Congress who will act — Democrat or Republican,” Biden said at the office’s opening.

Democrats have pushed to renew the Assault Weapons Ban, which expired in 2005, though the effort has received no support from Republicans.