US mass killings hit a record high in 2019: 'This seems to be the age of mass shootings'

[jpak]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/12/28/us-mass-shootings-killings-2019-41-record-high/2748794001/

The first one occurred 19 days into the new year when a man used an ax to kill four family members, including his infant daughter. Five months later, 12 people were killed in a workplace shooting in Virginia. Twenty-two died at a Walmart in El Paso in August.

A database compiled by The Associated Press, USA TODAY and Northeastern University shows there were more mass killings in 2019 than any other year dating back to at least the 1970s.

In all, there were 41 mass killings, defined as when four or more people are killed, excluding the perpetrator. Of those, 33 were mass shootings. More than 210 people were killed.

Most of the mass killings barely became national news, failing to resonate among the general public because they didn’t spill into public places as massacres did in El Paso and Odessa, Texas; Dayton, Ohio; Virginia Beach, Virginia; and Jersey City, New Jersey.

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[ck4829]

1. Not ISIS, not Al Qaeda, not MS-13... it's us doing it

[abqtommy]

2. Is it time to talk about sensible weapons/ammunition laws yet? And learn to tell which people

shouldn't own an axe, a knife, or a motor vehicle too!

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. I think Trump's normalization of threats and violence has encouraged this

He encourages physical violence against those who demonstrate against him, and against journalists who report unfavourably on Republicans. This makes it more likely those on the edge of violence will resort to it.

[Initech]

4. That's not a stat to be proud of, either.

[nitpicker]

5. Link to DW

https://www.dw.com/en/us-hits-record-number-of-mass-killings-in-2019/a-51824379