US Saw More Mass Shooting Deaths in First Half of 2023 Than All of 2018’s Year of ‘Never Again’

Ryan Deitsch hid in a closet with 19 of his classmates while Nikolas Cruz went floor to floor firing shots at whomever he found at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018.

The Parkland, Florida, mass shooting that left 17 students and staff members dead ignited a national conversation about guns as Deitsch and his classmates rallied tens of thousands of Americans to take to the streets declaring “Never Again” in nationwide marches. 

In all, 345 people were killed in 336 mass shootings that year, and another 1,314 were wounded.

But 2018 was a low point for mass shootings in America, and every year since has seen a significant uptick in the number the deaths from mass shooting events, according to an analysis of data collected by the nonpartisan Gun Violence Archive.

In the first six months of 2023, America has experienced the same number of mass shootings as in all of 2018 — with 395 killed. As of Aug. 13, the Gun Violence Archive has tallied 438 mass shootings nationwide, which surpasses the total for all of 2019.

This year is on pace to break the record for the most mass shootings ever, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as any incident in which four or more people are shot, excluding the gunman.

The number of mass shootings for the first six months of 2023 is up 12% from the same period in 2022.

Mass shootings are accelerating even as evidence points to violent crime dropping in many cities following a sharp spike during the pandemic.

“It's just absolutely tragic to see this issue continue and especially over the years in interacting with politicians and various leaders. It's been absolutely disappointing to see the lack of urgency,” Deitsch says. 

'Never Again'

In the wake of the Parkland shooting, "Never Again" campaigners organized March for Our Lives protests for tougher gun control laws across the country. More than 200,000 are estimated to have turned out for the main protest in Washington, D.C.

Several states passed gun restrictions in the wake of the protests. Then-Florida Gov. Rick Scott signed the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act, which banned the sale or possession of bump-fire stocks, provided funding for mental health in schools and raised the minimum age to purchase a firearm to 21 from 18, among other measures. 

The Parkland gunman was 19 when he bought the AR-15 style rifle used in the shooting.

The year 2018 also saw several other headline-grabbing mass shootings, including at Santa Fe High School in Texas in May, in which 10 students and teachers died; the Pittsburgh Tree of Life Jewish Center attack in October that killed 11 worshipers; and a November shooting at a college bar in Thousand Oaks, Calif., which claimed 12 lives.

Again and Again

Irvin Walker felt the bullets pierce his face, chest and stomach before he even saw the shooter firing into his car at the Allen Premium Outlets on May 6. 

The 47-year-old had just dropped off his girlfriend at the shopping center northeast of Dallas and was looking for a parking spot when he was shot multiple times by the gunman, who was armed with an AR-15-style assault rifle.

Eight people were killed and seven others, including Walker, were wounded.

Walker survived only after three major surgeries. He’s still healing from the wounds. 

“My life has been spared and there is still a great purpose in me to do whatever God has for me,” he says. 

Walker is part of a large and grim fraternity: He’s just one of more than 2,300 victims killed or wounded in mass shootings so far this year.

“I can't say what will determine change, but I think we should put more energy into monitoring those that have these weapons of mass destruction,” Walker says.

What's Behind the Surge

While the figures are stark, experts are at a loss to pinpoint why mass shootings have spiked so dramatically this year, but many look at a spike in gun ownership, the relaxation of gun laws in many states and the mass production of guns.

The National Rifle Association and other gun-rights advocates blame less appetite to prosecute criminals, and more lax bail policies that put more offenders back on the street while they await trial.

Over the last years, many states have peeled back gun legislation that had gotten enacted after Parkland — and further liberalize gun laws.

Florida legislators approved House Bill 1543, which will push the age limit back to 18. The bill is set to advance. Florida also passed a law allowing residents to carry concealed weapons without a government-issued permit that went into effect this month. 

There has been a surge of states adopting more permissive gun measures like stand your ground laws, limiting concealed carry permitting process, and some researchers believe a rise in mass shootings has to do with firearm regulations changing, says Andrew Morral, director of the Rand Gun Policy in America initiative. 

Laws, including limits on permit-less carry and universal background checks, have been cited as correlating with lower homicide deaths, according to the Giffords Law Center, a gun control advocacy organization.

But gun laws are only one piece of the puzzle, says Tony Montalto, who lost his daughter Gina in the Parkland shooting and is the president of Stand with Parkland, a nonprofit that advocates for practical public safety reforms.

“We have seen progress, but there's no magic wand or one sentence solution,” he says. “It’s finding ways to secure campuses, finding ways to improve mental health screenings, finding ways to ensure responsible firearms ownership such as safe storage, background checks and red flag laws.”

Proliferation of Guns 

But for Deistch, the answer over why mass shootings have accelerated is clear.

“Ultimately, we have a massive proliferation of guns in our society. We have more guns than people,” he says. 

Gun manufacturing reached record high numbers in 2021 with the United States putting out 13 million guns, according to federal data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. In 2018, gunmakers produced a little over 9 million guns, data showed.

“The chances of those guns falling into the wrong hands for any number of things, including mass shootings but also homicide and suicide, all go up by virtue that they're just more of them in circulation,” says Charles Branas, a  professor of epidemiology at Columbia University who studies gun violence. 

Branas co-conducted a 2019 study that correlated gun ownership with gun laws and found that states with more permissive gun laws and greater gun ownership had higher rates of mass shootings. 

Still, Deitsch says he believes that the nation still has it in its power to end the scourge of mass shootings — if it can find the will to act.

"I am not hopeless," he says. "What I do find hope in is the the activism, in the organizing, in seeing all these people coming together to keep fighting."