Citation

Wallace LN. Crime Prev. Community Safety 2022; 24(2): 206-209.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group -- Palgrave-Macmillan)

DOI

10.1057/s41300-022-00140-6

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Due in part to the unique stresses and challenges of COVID-19, gun-related fatalities in the USA rose to record highs in 2020. More than 45,000 people died that year, a 15% increase since 2019 (Everytown Research 2021b). Several sources estimate that 2021 will be even worse (Gun Violence Archive 2021). This book specifically examines mass public shootings. When defined as incidents where four or more individuals were killed by a single shooter within 24 h, approximately 158 mass shootings occurred between 1976 and 2018 (Duwe 2020), an average of 3.7 each year. Mass shootings have become more common in recent years, with an average of 20 each year between 2009 and 2020 (Everytown Research 2021a). Special Investigator and Psychologist Jill Peterson and Sociologist James Densley lend their unique expertise on this issue, examining why mass public shootings occur and, more importantly, how they might be prevented in the future.

This book is written with the non-expert in mind. Terminology is carefully defined throughout the text, and the authors take care to avoid technical jargon. Bar graphs and pie charts illustrate key trends in guns used, shooter motivations, locations, and other characteristics of shootings and shooters that are relatively straightforward to quantify. The book is not a statistical analysis, nor does it read like a journal article. However, it is firmly grounded in research conducted by the authors as well as the existing research literature on mass shooters. This is a book that appeals to a wide audience: academics, students, and the general public. The authors use many examples that readers will recognize. Since the book's authors themselves come from two different academic perspectives, the book draws from a variety of fields....

Language: en