Skip to content Skip to footer

2023 Breaks Record for Most Mass Killings From Guns in a Single Year in the US

There have been 630 mass shootings in the U.S. since the start of 2023.

Emily Wu Truong makes a heart out of wilted rose pedals for the Monterey Park mass shooting victims on January 31, 2023, at Star Ballroom Dance Studio in Monterey Park, California.

So far in 2023, there have been 38 mass killings with guns in the United States, a number that exceeds the total amount seen in any other year in modern times.

The number is based on a measurement compiled by The Washington Post, which defines a mass killing with a gun as any incident in which four or more individuals are killed by gun violence. The Post has tracked such events since 2006.

The previous record, which was established last year, saw 36 mass killings with guns. As of Friday, 2023 had been tied with that number, but after two mass shootings over the weekend — one in Texas, where a 21-year-old man shot and killed his ex-girlfriend and three of her family members, and another in Washington, where a man killed his family and himself in a murder-suicide — the record was broken.

There are still 26 days remaining in December, which means the number could rise even higher.

One hundred and ninety-seven people were killed in the 38 instances of mass killings, according to The Post’s count.

The Post’s measurement doesn’t take into account the number of mass shootings that happened this past year, as the publication believes that term is ill-defined. Other measures of mass shootings, however, provide a definition of the term, with the Gun Violence Archive (GVA), for example, explaining that such events are where “a minimum of four victims [are] shot, either injured or killed, not including any shooter who may also have been killed or injured in the incident.”

As of December 5, the GVA has counted 630 mass shootings in 2023. The GVA’s count also measures the number of “mass murders” from gun violence, which is on par with the 38 that The Post has counted.

If the current pace of mass shootings continues, it’s possible that the number could exceed a total of 675 people by the end of the year. That number would be the second-highest ever recorded by the GVA, surpassed only by 2021’s numbers, when 689 mass shootings were counted.

The largest mass shooting this year took place in October in Lewiston, Maine, where a shooter killed 18 people and injured 13 others. Although the shooting renewed calls for legislation to address mass shootings in Congress, then-newly minted Speaker of the House Mike Johnson refused to consider any meaningful bills, instead only offering prayer as a solution, echoing statements frequently made by Republican lawmakers after such shootings occur.

A majority of U.S. voters want lawmakers to pass legislation to make gun laws stricter. According to a recent Gallup poll, 56 percent of Americans want new gun laws to make gun sale laws stricter, while 31 percent want current laws unchanged, and 12 percent want them less strict.

We’re not backing down in the face of Trump’s threats.

As Donald Trump is inaugurated a second time, independent media organizations are faced with urgent mandates: Tell the truth more loudly than ever before. Do that work even as our standard modes of distribution (such as social media platforms) are being manipulated and curtailed by forces of fascist repression and ruthless capitalism. Do that work even as journalism and journalists face targeted attacks, including from the government itself. And do that work in community, never forgetting that we’re not shouting into a faceless void – we’re reaching out to real people amid a life-threatening political climate.

Our task is formidable, and it requires us to ground ourselves in our principles, remind ourselves of our utility, dig in and commit.

As a dizzying number of corporate news organizations – either through need or greed – rush to implement new ways to further monetize their content, and others acquiesce to Trump’s wishes, now is a time for movement media-makers to double down on community-first models.

At Truthout, we are reaffirming our commitments on this front: We won’t run ads or have a paywall because we believe that everyone should have access to information, and that access should exist without barriers and free of distractions from craven corporate interests. We recognize the implications for democracy when information-seekers click a link only to find the article trapped behind a paywall or buried on a page with dozens of invasive ads. The laws of capitalism dictate an unending increase in monetization, and much of the media simply follows those laws. Truthout and many of our peers are dedicating ourselves to following other paths – a commitment which feels vital in a moment when corporations are evermore overtly embedded in government.

Over 80 percent of Truthout‘s funding comes from small individual donations from our community of readers, and the remaining 20 percent comes from a handful of social justice-oriented foundations. Over a third of our total budget is supported by recurring monthly donors, many of whom give because they want to help us keep Truthout barrier-free for everyone.

You can help by giving today. Whether you can make a small monthly donation or a larger gift, Truthout only works with your support.