Introduction
Few topics are more politically divisive than gun control in an era of wide gaps between Republicans and Democrats. Over the past several years, party differences on some policy options—and even on whether gun violence is a major national problem—have widened. However, a few particular policy initiatives still have bipartisan support.
Currently, slightly over half of Americans (53%) believe that gun restrictions should be stricter than they are. However, just 20% of Republicans and Republican leaners share this opinion (Pew Research Center, 2021). Similarly, just 20% of Republicans agree that making it more difficult to purchase weapons legally will reduce the number of mass shootings. While 73% of Democrats believe the same, the majority (65%) believe it would have no impact (Pew Research Center, 2021). Thus, the increase in gun violence stimulates the appearance of new policy regulations and measures to reduce the number of incidents.
Research Topic
Numerous high-profile mass shootings have occurred recently. Three critical conclusions concerning how mass shootings affect gun laws are presented in this research. First, widespread shootings induce significant policy changes. The year after the mass shooting, there was a 15% rise in the number of firearm measures submitted in a state (Luca et al., 2020). With more media coverage, this impact gets stronger. Second, although mass shootings only make up a small percentage of gun fatalities, they have a disproportionately large impact compared to other killings.
Third, the effect of mass shootings varies depending on the party in power when examining laws that have been passed. In states with Republican-controlled legislatures, the number of gun-restrictive laws passed each year increases after a mass shooting. Mass shootings significantly impacted laws passed during Democratic-controlled legislative sessions or in adopting measures tightening gun control. The central question of the research is how the increased number of mass shooting impact the policymaking and implementation of new regulations in gun control.
The Definition of Mass Shooting
There is no single, universally accepted definition of a public mass shooting; throughout the years, many interest groups, organizations, and law enforcement agencies have developed a range of definitions. The United States Congressional Research Service defines the term “public mass shooting” as an incident in one or more public places (Zakopoulos et al., 2022). It involves the murder of four or more people with firearms, excluding the shooter, chosen randomly within one incident and without a means to an end, such as terrorism or robbery.
This is also consistent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s definition of “mass murder,” which includes killing four or more individuals from 2005 (Zakopoulos et al., 2022). The United States government’s directive in January 2013 reduced that threshold to three deaths or more (Zakopoulos et al., 2022). The definitions mentioned earlier were merged to create an open-source database to study public mass shootings specifically, as opposed to gun violence in general as a social phenomenon.
They excluded shootings resulting from more traditionally motivated crimes like armed robbery or street violence in which the offenders have not been identified, focusing instead on indiscriminate violent attacks in public spaces. According to their definition, there have been 118 mass shootings in the United States over the previous 40 years as of February 2020, most of which used legally purchased weapons (Zakopoulos et al., 2022). Thus, mass shootings, gun violence, and school shootings all seem to be on the rise.
Overall, more than half of Americans think current gun laws need to be strengthened. Only 20% of Republicans and Republican-leaning voters agree with this viewpoint. When reviewing legislation that has been approved, there are varied responses to mass shootings depending on which party is in power. There is scant proof that shootings of a large number of people had a significant influence on legislation approved by Democratic-controlled legislatures or on steps strengthening gun control.
People who are subjected to violence, crime, or abuse run the danger of suffering from several unfavorable consequences. Therefore, it is necessary to recognize the problem at the state level and take measures to reduce the number of crimes that have appeared over the last decade. The increase in incidents involving mass shootings may contribute to the new laws regarding gun control.
Statistics
The time the offenses were committed is the independent variable in the case analysis, and the measurement level is an interval. There have been at least 95 incidents of gunfire on school grounds so far in 2022, which have resulted in 40 fatalities and 76 injuries. In the United States, school shootings have increased significantly over the previous few decades; in 2021, there were more than in any year since 1999, and the average age of the shooters was 16 (Katsiyannis et al., 2022). Additionally, an examination of Everytown’s Gunfire on School Grounds dataset and associated research reveals some crucial findings.
Those results should be taken into account when dealing with this situation. For instance, 73% of school shootings had at least one person aware of the shooter’s plot before the shooting events. Additionally, 58% of perpetrators had a link to the school, 70% were White men, and 73 to 80% got firearms from home, friends, or family (Katsiyannis et al., 2022). In the United States, gun violence claimed 39,707 lives in 2019, an increase of 17% from 1999.
Public mass shootings made up less than 0.1% of homicides in the United States between 2000 and 2016. However, the rate at which they occur has tripled from 2011 to 2014, and more recently, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of mass shootings has increased from 417 in 2019 to 611 in 2020 (Katsiyannis et al., 2022). The database does not include shootings that had more traditional motives, including gang fighting or armed robbery, or that had unidentified perpetrators.
Recorded Number of Deaths
The number of fatalities reported over time will be the primary dependent variable, and the ratio measurement will be used. According to different research done by the Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, 240 mass shootings in the United States between 2009 and 2020 resulted in 1,363 fatalities (Zakopoulos et al., 2022). However, mass shooting-related mortality is poorly studied and comprehended (Zakopoulos et al., 2022). This is partly because there is no universally recognized definition of a public mass shooting.
Over time, many groups and law enforcement agencies have offered differing definitions. However, it revolves around shooting numerous people in a public place. In 2021, 45,027 people were murdered by guns (including 20,937 suicides), including 313 children under the age of 11, 750 injuries, 1247 adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17, and 3385 injuries (Katsiyannis et al., 2022). As of 2020, there have been 611 mass shootings in the United States, up from 269 in 2013 (Katsiyannis et al., 2022). Typically, instances involving four or more fatalities qualify as mass shootings.
The Gun Violence Archive defines a mass shooting as resulting in four or more injuries. Regardless of these definitional differences, there were 19,384 gun murders in 2020, up 34% from the previous year, 49% over five years, and 75% over ten years (Katsiyannis et al., 2022). To date in 2022, there were at least 95 incidents of gunfire on school grounds, resulting in 40 fatalities and 76 injuries (Katsiyannis et al., 2022). People who experience violence, criminality, and abuse are at risk for various adverse outcomes, such as drug and alcohol misuse, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, failure in school, and criminal behavior.
Literature Review
The Purpose and Structure of the Review
This study aims to examine the literature regarding the influence of mass shootings on gun control policy. The review will emphasize the main themes covered by researchers, exploring the most common and debatable points. The review will examine four articles concerning gun ownership restrictions as a consequence of mass shootings. The articles examine this question from different points of view: the influence of mass shootings on laws (Luca et al., 2020), the effectiveness of preventing shootings on an individual level (Wintemute et al., 2019), and the effect mass shooting has on purchasing a firearm (Liu & Weibe, 2019).
There is an article that studies mass shootings in general but covers the question of the adequacy of the response to the threat at the level of federal legislation (Katsiannys et al., 2022). Since the articles cover different aspects of gun policy, they do not have many common themes. The researchers examined three main topics: the effectiveness of the gun policy, the different approaches political parties have regarding gun restrictions, and the response to mass shootings and other firearm crimes in the media.
Changes in Gun Policy After Mass Shootings
The first and obvious theme that researchers examine is the estimation of whether mass shootings meet sufficient reaction with gun restrictions, which turns out to be a debatable question. Researchers such as Luka et al. (2019) and Wintemute et al. (2020) agree that the policy response is strong, although they explore it on different levels. Luka et al. (2020) focus on legislation regulating gun control, stating that mass shooting causes an increase in firearm bills. In the meantime, Wintemute et al. (2019) examine the case restrictions on an individual level with the help of extreme risk protection orders.
The geographical limits of this research are narrower as they concentrate on the cases of issuing ERPOs in California. However, there is another point of view on that issue. Katsiannys et al. (2022) estimate that the federal laws on gun policy are not enough to respond to the threat that is considered a “pressing social and public health issue” (p. 2). The article by Luke et al. (2019) provides more solid proof than other articles. This research appears to be the most trustworthy and objective.
Dependence of Reaction on Political Parties in Power
The second vital point of the research works studying the effect of mass shootings on gun policy is the statement that the intensity of response to mass shootings depends on which party is currently in power. The leading advocates of this point of view are Luka et al. (2020), who provide data showing that Republicans are less likely to develop initiatives restricting gun ownership.
This thesis is confirmed by Liu and Weibe (2019), whose research explores citizens’ behavior after mass shootings and examines the dependence of customers’ choices on their expectations from politicians. They studied the amount of gun purchasing after mass shootings, stating that the fear of restrictions was one of the factors that encouraged people to buy guns.
Liu and Weibe (2019) provide data illustrating that the number of firearms purchased increased when Democrats won elections. The analysts connected it with the fact that customers were expecting new restriction laws. When Republicans were winning, the reaction tended to be the opposite (Liu & Weibe, 2019). This issue is less debatable than the previous one, as the researchers mainly do not explore the connection between politics and gun control.
Perception of Mass Shootings and Other Crimes in the Media
The third important theme covered in research works is the difference in reaction to mass shootings as opposed to other forms of gun violence, which tends to be more intense in the case of mass shootings. The researchers agree that this kind of firearm crime gets more attention from the media, even if mass shooting occurrences happen more rarely than other crimes.
Liu and Weibe (2019) estimate this fact negatively, stating that such attention inspires more fear. Luka et al. (2020) also support the idea, stating that mass shooting influences legislation more than other homicides involving guns. This data provokes many questions concerning why mass shootings get a different way of representation in media and different government responses, and what consequences this attention causes to society.
The main themes that researchers underline are the adequacy of the reaction to the mass shooters from the side of legislators and the dependence of the intensity of response on the political party in power. The third central theme is the comparison between the reactions to the mass shooting and other firearm crimes. There is no unanimous opinion about whether the gun policy is compelling enough, but the authors of the most reviewed works note that mass shooting causes certain restrictions.
Not many works examine the direct influence of mass shootings on gun control. This theme is mostly covered as part of research exploring mass shootings or gun control in general. Some articles, on the contrary, examine very specific aspects of the theme, so there is a need for research that would cover that in a more detailed way. For example, examining and comparing the effectiveness of gun policy on the national and individual levels.
Methodology
Explaining how mass shootings might affect gun control policies requires attention to what people think about the offered approaches and if they recognize some changes over time. The decision has been made to conduct a phenomenological qualitative study based on a survey method. The main idea of this method is to investigate and understand the essence of the phenomenon (in this case, it is a mass shooting) and its connection to gun control. It is expected to analyze people’s lived experiences and knowledge on the topic and clarify what can be done to improve the situation.
At this moment, Luca et al. (2020) indicate that federal laws establish a minimal level of gun control, and no significant effect of mass shootings on gun control has been observed. The analysis of surveys where real people share their opinions on this correlation would make a certain contribution to policymaking. Despite the possible barriers and limitations, the discussion of further implications should prove the appropriateness of the phenomenological qualitative methodology.
Research Method
In this study, a phenomenological qualitative method will be used to research the effects of mass shootings on gun control. The chosen approach has proven effective in many fields, including education and health care.For example, Neubauer et al. (2019) admit that phenomenology helps educators and researchers learn from the experiences of others and focus on various experiences within the world.It is not enough to indicate a problem and try to find a solution.It is more important to gather information on the topic from multiple perspectives and identify the issues in common and controversies.
A survey will be conducted using the SurveyMonkey platform to generate five closed-ended questions. The goal of the questions is to gather the participants’ opinions and reveal what they think about mass shooting prevalence and gun control.The benefits of online surveys to prove they are the best research method include simple administration, time-saving, cost-effectiveness, and increased participation (Nayak & Narayan, 2019).Biases have to be removed because this social problem might affect the development of new policies and obligations at the community and state levels.
Sampling Technique
In research, sampling is a critical process to select a group of individuals who will share their thoughts to be used as data for analysis.According to Turner (2020), the participation of the entire population of interest is usually impossible, and the researcher should think about the most reliable and effective ways to contact the subjects. In this project, it is crucial to find people who have experienced or witnessed mass shootings. Still, this theme is too personal and specific, and not all people are eager to share their negative experiences.
Thus, snowball sampling will be employed when the researcher finds one participant, and that participant will invite other members. This technique is helpful for hidden populations when direct contact is problematic (Turner, 2020). To ensure the chosen method meets saturation, the recommendation by Lowe et al. (2018, as cited in Hennink & Kaiser, 2022) to invite at least 25 participants for the survey would be followed. This step helps avoid redundancy in qualitative research and applies the required inclusion criteria.
Research Plan
Formulating a research plan is necessary to predict possible problems and challenges and define the most appropriate solution in this case. The first step is to find a person who is connected to recent mass shooting events (a witness, victim, survivor, or observer). This number is sufficient to initiate snowball sampling and meets the required saturation. The second step is to formulate questions and create a survey that could be offered to participants.
Five close-ended questions will be created on the SurveyMonkey platform to indicate the awareness of the topic and the attitudes toward gun control policies.The next step is to analyze the offered participants and check if they meet the inclusion criteria: mass shooting relation, age between 18 and 45 years, and being/living in the United States. Once the questions are created and the participants are chosen, the researcher will contact each subject, describe the study, and share a link with survey questions.
Barriers and Limitations
Despite the intention to create a perfect research plan and avoid challenges, some barriers and limitations should be mentioned. Any research method has benefits, due to which researchers make their choices, but there are also several limitations. First, snowball sampling is characterized by bias due to the inability to control research recruitment and the connections between participants (Turner, 2020). Another barrier to conducting online surveys is the inability to probe participants and develop leading questions to get more detailed information (Nayak & Narayan, 2019).
Snowball sampling is highly likely to leak data, and data security can be seriously damaged (Nayak & Narayan, 2019). Difficulties in analyzing and interpreting data may create additional barriers for phenomenologists in their studies (Neubauer et al., 2019). A small sample size is the most evident disadvantage of a survey method because the results will be based on the answers of a limited number of people.
Policy Implications
The effects of mass shootings on gun control vary, depending on what has already been discussed in a community and what preventive steps have been taken. The current study will discuss two new policies that might be implemented in any region of the United States to predict mass shootings and avoid the adverse outcomes of gun control. First, a lockdown policy is highly recommended because it would allow for minimizing the activities of shooters and gaining better control over the territory.
This policy should be offered directly when an event occurs. Still, some steps must be taken to understand the essence of a mass shooting and protect the population. In this case, the preparation policy for shootings could be effective in educating ordinary people on how to behave and control their emotions. Sometimes, clarifying the details, calmness, and rational communication could prevent unnecessary victims and losses.
Conclusion
In general, the American government and many professional organizations continue developing strategies to prevent mass shootings and stabilize gun control in the country. This research focuses on how public opinions and experiences could contribute to a better understanding of the problem and develop a background for solutions. In the United States, mass shootings are not common, but their outcomes are severe and damaging to the population.
Thus, policymaking plays an essential role in identifying and explaining the measures that help reduce the number of crimes and promote new laws and regulations. Surveys with real people who faced mass shootings would improve the effectiveness of gun policies on the state and individual levels. Although it is hard and usually impossible to find a common and working solution to mass shootings, the current project would improve the analysis of mass shootings and gun control.
References
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Katsiyannis, A., Rapa, L. J., Whitford, D. K., & Scott, S. N. (2022). An examination of US school mass shootings, 2017–2022: Findings and implications. Advances in Neurodevelopmental Disorders, 1-11. Web.
Liu, G., & Weibe, D. J. (2019). A time-series analysis of firearm purchasing after mass shooting events in the United States. JAMA Network Open, 2(4). Web.
Luca, M., Malhotra, D., & Poliquin, C. (2020). The impact of mass shootings on gun policy. Journal of Public Economics, 181. Web.
Nayak, M. S. D. P., & Narayan, K. A. (2019). Strengths and weaknesses of online surveys. Technology, 6(7), 31-38. Web.
Neubauer, B. E., Witkop, C. T., & Varpio, L. (2019). How phenomenology can help us learn from the experiences of others. Perspectives on Medical Education, 8, 90-97. Web.
Pew Research Center. (2021). Amid a series of mass shootings in the US, gun policy remains deeply divisive. Pew Research Center. Web.
Turner, D. P. (2020). Sampling methods in research design. Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain, 60(1), 8-12. Web.
Wintemute, C.J., Pear, V.A., Schleimer, J.P., Pallin, R., Sohi, S., Kravitz-Wirtz, N., & Tomsich, E.A. (2019). Extreme risk protection orders intended to prevent mass shootings: A case series. Annals of Internal Medicine, 171(9), 55-658. Web.
Zakopoulos, I., Varshney, K., Macy, J. T., & McIntire, R. K. (2022). A descriptive analysis of mass shootings in the United States from 2010 to 2020: The relationship between firearm dealership density and proximity to mass shooting sites and a comparison with McDonald’s and Starbucks retailers. Cureus, 14(9). Web.