With the pandemic seemingly coming to an end, all seems to be going back to normal in life for Americans. This is exciting for most who have been cooped up in their own personal homes, either with family or by themselves. This should be an exciting time for all Americans as we try to rebuild our economy, our relationships and our lives to get back to feeling normal. However, with all the sadness of having to quarantine and social distance for over a year, most of us have forgotten about what normal life really feels like in America. Even though things opening up and people being allowed to be out with friends and family should be a joyous season, there is now the frightening reality of America’s ongoing issue with mass shootings. As of recently, there have been 105 mass shootings in America in the year 2021 alone. This number can be seen as shocking to some, as we are only three months into the year, but when one goes over the numbers of 2020 and 2021 separately, there seems to be an unsettling number of deaths in America that people aren’t talking about or realizing. Let’s go over the numbers together.
As of March 22, 2021, there have been 105 mass shootings with a total of 179 deaths and 626 injured within 2021 alone. Though shocking to some, these numbers are nothing compared to 2020. With the year 2017 previously thought to have been the deadliest year thus far, 2020 surpassed that by over 3,600 deaths. As of right now, 2020 is the deadliest year in American history due to mass shootings. This can be confusing for some, seeing as most of us have been in lockdowns, but with protests, police brutality and a historic election, gun violence may have been more prevalent than one might think. According to statistics from the Gun Violence Archive, almost 44,000 Americans were killed from some sort of gun incident in 2020, and nearly 20,000 of those Americans were killed by gun violence. It should also be noted that there were a little over 24,000 suicides in the year 2020. With all this violence and 2020 taking the title of the deadliest year, one could wonder why more people are not aware of these numbers. In 2020, there were 611 mass shootings, which resulted in over 3,000 deaths. However, a seemingly bigger issue that America now faces is a possible rise in mass shootings, especially racially targeted mass shootings. With a recent mass shooting in Atlanta, Georgia, that targeted mostly Asian women, fears about the safety of the Asian community rise due to America’s former president deeming the Covid-19 virus as a racially targeted phrase of ‘Kung Flu’ and blaming Asian countries for spreading the virus in America. This fear also follows behind the black community and the Hispanic community as this past year has been filled with racially targeted assaults as well. The future is unknown, but hopefully, with the end of the pandemic, mass shooting rates will decrease as the year goes along. However, as of right now, any predictions of gun violence drastically decreasing is seemingly unachievable in America.
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