Study found that 7% of Americans have been present at a scene of a mass shooting and 2% had been injured in one

Summary

A new study from the University of Colorado Boulder finds that 7% of U.S. adults have witnessed a mass shooting, and over 2% have been injured in one.

Researchers define mass shootings as incidents where four or more people are shot in public spaces. With nearly 5,000 such events since 2014, experts stress the need for public health strategies to address the psychological and physical impacts.

The study highlights how mass shootings are not isolated events but a widespread issue affecting millions of Americans.

  • @[email protected]
    4•1 day ago

    The question seems open to interpretation (which is bad for surveys like this).

    If I visit a location that was the site of a mass shooting a few years later, have I been “physically present on the scene of a mass shooting”?

    I think you could reasonably answer yes: you’ve been to the physical place where it happened, even if not at the time it happened.

    • Snot FlickermanEnglish
      2•1 day ago

      The university team defined “mass shooting” as a gun-related crime in which four or more people were shot in a public space.

      The University of Colorado researchers defined “physically present” as “in the immediate vicinity of where the shooting occurred at the time it occurred, such that bullets were fired in your direction, you could see the shooter, or you could hear the gunfire”.

      I’m sure somewhere in the questionnaire the definitions of mass shooting and physically present were presented to respondents, but once again, lying or misunderstanding the question is definitely a possibility.