Shannon Hautzinger
Aurora. Newtown. San Bernardino. Orlando. Las Vegas. Parkland. Pittsburgh. Thousand Oaks. Virginia Beach. El Paso. Dayton. Boulder. The grim commonality that links these cities needs no explanation, yet the ease with which it comes to mind demonstrates the gravity of America’s problem with gun violence. Still, deaths due to mass shootings represent only a miniscule percentage of all gun deaths in the United States. An average of 39,000 Americans are killed by guns every year, a figure that translates to about 100 fatalities per day. In the last decade alone, over one million Americans have been shot, guaranteeing that all Americans will likely know at least one victim of gun violence in their lifetime.