UPDATED at 4:45 p.m.: Last night's random shooting into a Colorado movie theater represents a tragedy with which Americans are becoming familiar. So far this year, at least six other random mass shootings have taken place in the United States.
This does not include incidents where the victims knew the shooter or were caught in shooting related to previous disputes or arguments, such as the Arizona man who in May fatally shot his girlfriend and three others before turning a gun on himself after a domestic dispute.
A Huffington Post analysis of FBI crime data showed that while single-victim shootings have declined 40% over the last three decades, mass shootings have ticked upward slightly in recent years.
2012 - Mass random shootings
July 19, Aurora, Colo: Gunman shoots into a movie theater, killing 12 and injuring 50 others.
July 17, Tusaloosa, Ala: Gunman shoots into a bar, injuring 17.
May 30, Seattle, Wash: Gunman shoots into cafe and later carjacks a woman, killing five and injuring one others.
April 7, Tulsa, Okla: Two gunmen accused of shooting passersby in a north Tulsa neighborhood, killing three and injuring two others.
April 2, Oakland, Calif: Gunman opens fire on classroom at Oikos University, killing seven and injuring three others.
March 3, Pittsburgh, Pa.: A gunman opens fire on a psychiatric hospital in Pittsburgh, killing one person and injuring seven more.
February 27, Chardon, Ohio: Teenager shoots into high school cafeteria, killing three and injuring three others.
Other recent mass shootings in the United States
January 8, 2011, Tucson, Ariz: Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., was shot in the head during a constituent event. Six people were killed, 13 wounded when a shooter mowed down the crowd with a semiautomatic weapon equipped with a 33-round magazine.
November 5, 2009, Fort Hood, Texas: Gunmen goes on a shooting rampage at a military base, killing 12 people and wounding 31.
April 3, 2009, Binghampton, NY: Jiverly Wong opened fire into a community center, killing 13 people before turning the gun on himself.
March 10, 2009, Samson, Ala: Michael McLendon committed suicide after a killing rampage that left 10 people dead - including his mother and four relatives - and spanned two counties.
April 16, 2007, Virginia Tech: In the worst U.S. shooting ever, Seung-Hui Cho, 23, opened fire on the Virginia Tech campus, killing himself and 32 others, wounding 17.
October 2002, Washington, D.C., region: A sniper terrorizes the country's capital by killing people at random from a car. Ten people are killed while at gas stations and other locations and six others are injured. John Allen Muhammad was later executed for the killings, and his teenage accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, was sentenced to back-to-back life sentences without parole.
April 20, 1999, Columbine, Colo: Teenagers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold opened fire on Columbine High School, killing 12 students and one teacher before taking their own lives.
With additional research from Amanda Sakuma
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why is it so easy to get thse crazy automatic rifles guns??? I don't get it? WHo needs an assault rifle for God's sake. it is built only to kill human beings. No one but police or military should be allowed to have such a weapon. A pistol is adequate protection for most people. Only the deranged and dangerous want to own these high powered weapons.
Freedom as a whole is over rated !
Why do the military and police need " assault rifles " ?
I believe the reason it is so easy to get access to an automatic rifle has something to do with population control.
Unbelievable! When is enough, enough? When it is your child, bother, sister, GF, BF?? Will everyone's thoughts and prayers be sufficient then? It's time for guns and the second amendment to become the next deadly victims! It's not about one insane individual, it's about a community, a republic, and public policy that are out of touch with "common sense" and the goal of "what's best and in the public interest". It's, yet, another sad day for this America...How many more?
@usually right:
1. The Aurora Colorado shooter did not use an "automatic rifle". Reports suggest one weapon was an AK-47 style rifle, which is semi-automatic, and along with AR style rifles are among the most commonly sold and owned rifles in the US.
2. AK and AR style rifles are commonly used for: target practice and home defense. AR style rifles are more accurate and are also suitable for hunting.
3. AK and AR style rifles are not considered "high powered" among knowledgeable gun owners. Many hunting rifle rifles are higher powered.
4. "Assault rifle" is not a meaningful description of a rifle in a functional sense. It found its way into the lexicon of gun control advocates because it makes the rifle itself sound animated, aggressive, and scary instead of the person who might carry it.
5. If only the "deranged and dangerous" wanted to own "assault rifles", then the casualties from incidents such as Aurora, Colorado would be astronomical, because the AK style rifle is the most common small arm in the world with estimates ranging as high as 100 million made.
@frank blaise:
There is a reason that it is not allowed in a criminal trial to present a slide show to the jury, showing close-up photographs of victims in particularly gruesome murder cases. Such images provoke an emotional response from jurors, not a reasoned response. The same reasoning applies in cases such as Aurora, Colorado. At times like this, the tendency is to throw out the baby with the bathwater, just in order to satisfy the need to "do something".
I recall the morning the videos were being played of airplanes crashing into the World Trade Center. In the aftermath, we got the Patriot Act, which was the greatest blow to our form of government and our freedom in our history. Sometimes, what seems like "common sense" and "what's best and in the public interest" in the aftermath of a tragedy are really no such thing.
One report I heard on MSNBC today was that a witness said the shooter in Aurora, Colorado claimed he "was the Joker". The crowd who believe that the media create monsters like this probably think it is "common sense" and "in the public interest" to censor the media so that it cannot glorify crime and violence. Would you be willing to advocate throwing out the First Amendment as easily as you advocate throwing out the Second? Would there be no negative consequences in either case?
While the gun ownership rate has been going up for twenty years, the violent crime rate has been going down, but mass shooting cases like Aurora, Colorado have seen a slick uptick in frequency. Whatever is the cause, it isn't simply related to access to guns.
Think about this...
If every law abiding citizen over 21 yrs old was required to become proficient with a weapon and carry it on their person at all times, how many of these mass shootings do you think we would have?
Yeah, I know the above statement sounds crazy, but think about it. Gun laws only effect those who follow the law, not criminals. Crazy people would really have to be crazy to go on a shooting spree, in which case someone would take them out pretty soon and there would be less sensless killings...
just saying...
Law abiding citizens do not commit these sorts of crimes against humanity. Responsible gun owners do not randomly go after other people. Criminals do find ways to acquire firearms whether they get them legally or not, they are the ones who will use them against others. The shooter may have not had any previous record, but he may have had certain patterns of behavior leading up to this horrific massacre.
What people might want to think about is this. If someone there had been armed (legal conceal and carry), and could have stopped this madman, more people would be alive today. I prefer our right as Americans to keep and bear arms to protect life liberty family property. Guns are NOT the problem here.....the people who use them wrongfully against others is the problem. Armed security guards in pubic areas would help. In this instance, my preference would have been to have Dirty Harry, Charles Bronson, and some cowboys in the audience. The first shot to the ceiling would have been his last shot.
I have not heard a single person suggest that as he's kind of a quiet loner type that he may be a gamer living out his fantasy. He called himself The Joker...what better than to be the Joker and come into a theater where Batman rises? really? especially if he feels some sort of retaliatory feeling about the school dropout experience, we know nothing about that yet....all day shrinks and etc have been on, analyzing him and I haven't heard the Joker connection explained better. This generation, back to the 80s have killed people in games and for some I'm not sure they separate it from reality.
In Florida, our right to carry macho malitia self appointed
neighborhoon security heros would have downed this clown,
after two or three shots. Two or three shots are preferable
to 74. Viva la 2nd ammendment and right of self defense.
Keep up the good work Florida.......