Gun violence and mass shootings typically increase during the summer months in USAespecially posterior of the Independence Dayhistorically one of the deadliest days of the year in the country.
A series of shootings around the holiday last year left more than a dozen dead and more than 60 wounded. Two years ago, another mass shooting at a Fourth of July parade left seven dead in Chicago. The mother of a 10-year-old boy paralyzed by the attack said Wednesday that her family will not attend this year’s parade, which is taking place for the first time since the shooting.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to attend the parade again.”said Keely Roberts, who was also injured.
The Gun Violence Archive, which tracks mass shootings of four or more people in the United States, regardless of whether they died, shows that June, July and August have had the most mass shootings in the past decade. The fewest are between December and March.
Independence Day topped the list with 58 mass shootings in the past 10 years, followed closely by July 5, according to the archive.
“It’s the meetings, the leisure time, the alcohol consumption”said James Alan Fox, a criminologist and professor at Northeastern University who oversees a database on gun violence maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with the university.
In the first half of this year, there were 19 mass shootings (14 of them shootings) with at least four dead in the United States, according to the database. In 2023, the nation recorded the highest number of mass shootings (39) since records began.
Experts cite a combination of factors that historically contribute to increased gun violence during the summer months.
The killings usually occurred in private homes and in most cases, the victims were family or acquaintances of the perpetrator.
When school is out and summer vacation begins, families tend to spend more time together, children spend more time at home and the likelihood of more victims increases when everyone is under the same roof, said Jesenia Pizarro, a criminology professor at Arizona State University.
At the same time, teenagers at this time of year tend to have more free time. “It’s like opportunities increase in the summer,” said Pizarro.
Source: Gestion
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