The Difference Between Media’s Inflated Number of Mass Shootings and Reality

Some terms shouldn’t be cheapened by being used where they don’t apply. Calling everyone “racist” or “Nazi,” for example, cheapens the word to the point that people who are actual racists or Nazis can fly under the radar, simply because the term was applied to someone who didn’t want some dude who just claimed he was really a woman going to the bathroom with his middle school-aged daughter.

“Mass shooting” is another term that’s been cheapened by applying it to many things that aren’t what people tend to think of as mass shootings. People think of Parkland, Uvalde, or the Route 91 Festival shootings as being mass shootings, but people like those at the Gun Violence Archive have included anything and everything they can to make the problem seem worse than it is.

And the outcome is fearmongering masquerading as reporting.

The U.S. has already experienced more than 300 mass shootings, according to recently released data from the Gun Violence Archive. 

The Gun Violence Archive (GVA), which compiles data on every reported gun violence incident in the United States from publicly available sources, defines a “mass shooting” as an event involving at least four people shot, excluding the shooter.

By the numbers:

According to the data, there were 340 mass shootings in the U.S. between January and October 14. 

Last year, there were a total of 503 mass shootings. In 2023, 659 mass shootings. 

So many mass shootings, right?

Except that most of those didn’t involve anywhere near as many fatalities as one might think when they hear the term.

The Associated Press has kept a tracker of mass killings, not just shootings, for years now. Their definition is much more realistic, as it focuses on the fatalities, namely that there are four or more people killed other than the perpetrator. How many mass killings in all have they found for 2025?

A whopping 16.

In addition, if you look at mass killings involving a firearm–which the AP does specifically break down–we have just 13 mass shootings this year.

That’s a long way from 340, isn’t it?

And seven of those were in or around residences, meaning they weren’t necessarily public mass shootings, such as what you see at a church or a shopping mall.

Moreover, let’s think about some of the most terrifying events, such as those in churches or schools, such as what we saw earlier this year in Minneapolis.

Here’s what the AP says:

Mass killings in schools and places of worship are uncommon. There have been 14 mass killings in schools and eight in houses of worship since 2006. While rare, these mass killings resulted in some of the highest numbers of deaths.

Now, there have been some shootings that came close, but didn’t quite hit the four-fatality threshold the AP uses, but the point remains that these are super rare.

In fact, mass shootings are actually pretty rare.

Which is the problem with the Gun Violence Archive. They don’t want people to think that because, if they do, they won’t see the need for gun control. This is about inflating the numbers, using the media to present them unquestioningly as fact, and then leveraging the ensuing fear into pushing for anti-Second Amendment laws.

They include gang warfare as “mass shootings,” as if they have the same root causes as some creep with a long history of violence against his mother, shooting up the school he got kicked out of. They’re not the same thing and shouldn’t be compared.

Doing so cheapens terms like “mass shooting.”

It is also a pathetic attempt at trying to control people by redefining terms so people think an issue is worse than it really is.

Editor’s Note: The Schumer Shutdown is here. Rather than put the American people first, Chuck Schumer and the radical Democrats forced a government shutdown for healthcare for illegals. They own this.

Help us continue to report the truth about the Schumer Shutdown. Use promo code POTUS47 to get 74% off your VIP membership.