"Another American community shattered by unspeakable violence," remarked a solemn President Barack Obama in his recent video speech shown on CBS News. Referring to the shooting in San Bernardino, Calif., that killed 14 and injured 17, the president addressed the U.S. for the an absurd 13th time to respond to mass shootings.
It's becoming more and more apparent that we live in an age of terrible violence, and 2015 has seen a lot of it, to say the least. The recent flurry of killings, most noted in the grisly attacks in Paris and Beruit, as well as shockingly recent shootings in Colorado Springs, Colo., and San Bernardino, has created a terrified uproar. American citizens are scared, angry, and demanding answers and action - rightly so. Between out-of-country conflict with ISIS stepping up continually to take credit for and applaud the killings and the intra-country conflict over the politics of topics such as Planned Parenthood, the U.S. is finding itself torn by and in a disarray from violence.
Nowhere seems quite as safe anymore. Whose small-town elementary school could be the next Sandy Hook, local movie theater become an Aurora, Colo., or nearby church turn into a Charleston? These larger killing sprees in the last few years have become infamous around the U.S., and instilled a fear that's only increased with the current climate. It seems that no public space is "off limits." And, the ever-growing number is popping up everywhere, haunting Americans with three digits too many: 353.
As of Dec. 2nd: 353. By the time this article is published, that number will most likely have gone up based on the trend. With 29 days still left in this year, that averages just over one shooting per day, there is still time for the number of "mass shootings" in 2015 to surpass the number of calendar dates. Thanks to the Mass Shooting Tracker, brought to you by ShootingTracker.com and Gun Violence Archive, anyone with internet access can now view the "ongoing 2015 mass shooting list," and watch the number tick up on their own. Articles, maps, and opinions about the Mass Shooting Tracker's list are going viral as Americans attempt to make sense of the truth it reveals.
That truth is a complicated one, brought to light by speculative articles in the last week. "Have there been 353 mass shootings this year - or just 4?" asks Vox's controversy-ridden headline. Articles in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, and other sources are all joining the clamor of defining the phrase "mass shooting" in order to best understand the data being thrown around.
The argument is mainly over death toll, and the question of how many injured and dead constitute a national tragedy. The U.S. government has no set definition for a "mass shooting," and this lack of a quantitative requisite has left individual groups to analyze based on their own judgement. While some come up with 353, others come up with four, and the smattering of opinions is inconclusive. It's kind of silly - with an epidemic of violence sweeping the nation, people want to stop and debate which deaths actually get to go in the history books? But, closely tied to the concern for violence in America is the gun control debate, and parties on both sides of the argument are utilizing 2015's data to move forward their agendas. The president himself did so in his video address, calling the events in San Bernardino "another tragic reminder that here in America, it's way too easy for dangerous people to get their hands on a gun."
As Gun Violence Archive and ShootingTracker.com, managers of the Mass Shooting Tracker, openly state in their biography, their data "has a singular mission of providing unbiased, raw statistics, all with verified sourcing to inform society of the number of Mass Shootings that occur in the United States each year, no matter the cause or intent of the toll of victims." Specifically self-described as not an advocacy group, they define a "mass shooting" as an incident where "four or more shot and/or killed in a single event, at the same general time and location not including the shooter." Regardless of their intention in the presentation of the data, the Mass Shooting Tracker's liberal definition of "mass shooting" results in higher numbers. The compiled list is to educate and impress the people of America with gun-related violence statistics - and 353 is certainly more impressive than four. But, before entirely dismissing the Mass Shooting Tracker as a form of political persuasion, pause and take into account the reality of the violence.
Three hundred fifty-three "mass shootings?" Or, 353 attacks in which "four or more shot and/or killed?" Splitting hairs over the definition isn't helping much. These are still 353 acts of senseless violence in a country that prides itself on being a just, safe haven. Even take patriotism right out of the picture. These are still 353 acts of senseless violence - 353. It doesn't matter where, why, how, when, or who. Three hundred fifty-three acts of violence. I hope we all can agree that regardless of circumstance, 353 is too many.
So, what's the answer? How do we shrink this number? Why has it grown? The Mass Shooting Tracker seems to have raised more complicated questions than straightforward answers. But, with the debate swirling thick and fast around the tallies, don't let misleading graphs and strategic data analysis distract from the heart of the truth here. The point is not to make the "mass shooting" definition one more discussion to take sides over - we already know what that leads to. Instead, use this debate to draw us together against violence, instead of splitting over it. Let's look to shrink that number to zero, whether that means dropping out of the hundreds or simply down to three. As Obama stated to close his somber speech with a rallying point, "We are Americans who will uphold our values and our free and open society. We are strong, and we are resilient, and we will not be terrorized."
