How many active shooter incidents there are might surprise you

Several highly publicized mass shootings have prompted Congress to look at increased legislation regarding background checks for potential gun owners.

Active shooter incidents

The FBI defines an active shooter as one or more individuals actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a populated area. Here’s a look at the FBIs list of incidents from 2000-2018.

Incidents by yearFrom 2000-2018 there were 277 incidents. There have been seven mass shootings so far in 2019. Mass shootings are defined by the FBI as three or more fatalities (not including the shooter). Ages ranged from 12-79, more than 95% were male and a majority of the incidents involved handguns.

Gif created by Jeff Goertzen and Kurt Snibbe, SCNG

Note: The 2019 Gilroy attack is listed as a mass shooting where three or more fatalities occurred. The number of all active shooter incidents in the state were not released at the time of this report.

 

Where Americans agree most

A Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults in 2017 showed degree of support for various gun policies, by political party.

Sources: FBI, Pew Research Center