California in Crisis: 3 Mass Shootings in 48 Hours – Understanding the Contagion of High-Profile Gun Violence

A news cycle focused on the loss of life in a high-profile mass shooting has been interrupted along with other stories.

Recent Shootings in Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay

On January 21, a 72-year-old man broke into a Lunar New Year celebration at StarDance Studio in Monterey Park and opened fire. 11 people died as a result of the shooting, and another 9 were injured. On Monday, 7 more people were killed in two shootings in Half Moon Bay, California, about 380 miles from the Saturday attack. Police did not specify a motive for the Monterey Park or Half Moon Bay attacks, but people who frequented the dance studio where the first attack occurred told the Los Angeles Times that the shooter was upset and may have lashed out of jealousy.

Copycat Phenomenon

Dr. Gary Slutkin, former head of WHO’s Intervention Development Unit, spoke about how “It’s a disease, it’s violence, it’s contagious,” Dr. Jonathan M. Metzl, director of the Center for Medicine, Health and Society at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, echoed Slotkin and said that “We know historically that there is a strong copycat phenomenon with high-profile mass shootings”

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Recent High Profile Mass Shootings

On March 16, 2021, 8 people, including 6 Asian women, were killed at various spas in the Atlanta metropolitan area by a man armed with an AR-15. Two weeks later, a man armed with the same weapon killed 10 people at a Colorado grocery store. On April 15, another man with a shotgun killed 8 people and injured several more at a FedEx facility near the Indianapolis International Airport. Last year, there were mass shootings on November 19 at Club Q in Colorado Springs, May 24, 2022, at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, and May 14, 2022, shooting at a Buffalo grocery store to name a few.

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Statistics on Gun Violence

In 2022 alone, the Gun Violence File totaled 647 mass shootings, defined as an incident in which four or more people were shot, not including the shooter. Since January 1, 2023, 24 days ago, there have been 39 mass shootings, according to the data. At least 44,290 people died from gun violence in the United States in 2022, most of whom committed suicide.

Preventing Gun Violence

Dr. Metzl said that when creating policies on how to boycott gun killings, people should consider all acts of gun violence and not just high-profile mass shootings. He believes that, in addition to thinking beyond mass shootings, passing gun laws that include background checks and bans on high-capacity magazines can help prevent deaths from gun violence. “There are many policies that we can announce that will reduce the daily rates of gun deaths,” Metzl told Insider. “It’s not so much, ‘Oh, this policy will stop mass shootings,’ but that we can save more lives.”

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Conclusion

The frequency of mass shootings in the United States has led to a normalized perception of violence, leading to a copycat phenomenon where one event leads to another. While high-profile mass shootings tend to receive the most media coverage, it is important to consider all acts of gun violence when creating policies to prevent them. Experts suggest implementing background checks and bans on high-capacity magazines as a means to reduce daily rates of gun deaths.