The FBI released a new report on gun violence, and it’s worth taking a moment to think about. Here’s what they found:
In 2022, the U.S. suffered more casualties — meaning deaths or injuries — from active shooters than it did in the four years prior.
For those not immediately impacted by the trauma, our brains can often blend the details of these gun tragedies — a bank in Kentucky, a school in Nashville, a sweet 16 party in Alabama.
We can even find ourselves tuning out the news or normalizing these tragedies because the weight of all this loss is unbearable. But for the sake of our communities and our kids, we need to face the grim numbers head-on.
So here they are:
In 2022, there were 50 active shooter incidents that caused 313 casualties, including 100 people who were killed.
That makes roughly one active shooter incident a week throughout 2022.
Last year, the total active shooter incidents was 66% higher compared with 2018.
The fact is, whether we’re close to it or not, the scourge of gun violence affects us all — no community is immune from its impacts. No space is too sacred. Some of the most horrific shootings have occurred in elementary schools, concert venues, churches and synagogues, shopping malls, nightclubs, and grocery stores.
I emailed you a few weeks ago about the challenges and limitations we face with a divided Congress on our ability to get something — anything — done to save lives. I’m sharing the question again because I still think it’s a worthwhile exercise for myself and my colleagues:
Have we let the debate around this crucial issue become stale and futile? Are there solutions and strategies we’re not talking about that we might be able to find some common ground on?
