Mass Shootings Rise Steadily Since the 1970s

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With data provided by criminologist Grant Duwe, CRS also compiled a 44-year (1970-2013) dataset of firearms-related mass murders that could arguably be characterized as “mass public shootings.” These data show that there were on average:

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one (1.1) incident per year during the 1970s (5.5 victims murdered, 2.0 wounded

per incident),

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nearly three (2.7) incidents per year during the 1980s (6.1 victims murdered, 5.3

wounded per incident),

•

four (4.0) incidents per year during the 1990s (5.6 victims murdered, 5.5

wounded per incident),

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four (4.1) incidents per year during the 2000s (6.4 victims murdered, 4.0

wounded per incident), and

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four (4.5) incidents per year from 2010 through 2013 (7.4 victims murdered, 6.3

wounded per incident). 

These decade-long averages suggest that the prevalence, if not the deadliness, of “mass public shootings” increased in the 1970s and 1980s, and continued to increase, but not as steeply, during the 1990s, 2000s, and first four years of the 2010s.