National Report Shows Umpqua Community College Shooting was the 11th Deadliest in US since 2013
By Penny Okamoto, Executive Director of Ceasefire Oregon
- States with weak gun laws see 50% more mass shooting fatalities.
- States with weak laws experienced 63% more mass shootings with an assault weapon.
- Oregon’s firearm suicide rate of 94.1 per million much higher than national rate.
- Since 2013, the number of annual mass shootings nationwide jumped by 65%.
- In states with strong laws, mass shooting incidents increased by 33% and fatalities by 26%, but in states with weak laws, mass shootings increased by a staggering 91% and fatalities by 92%.
- The use of an assault weapon makes mass shootings four times more lethal.
The Umpqua Community College mass shooting in Roseburg, Oregon, on October 1, 2015, was the eleventh deadliest shooting in the United States between 2013 and 2019, according to a new report, “Mass Shootings in America: 2013 – 2019,” released in July.
In the same time period, Oregon suffered seven mass shootings that left 15 people dead and 31 injured. Oregon’s firearm homicide rate of 16.4 per million is lower than the national rate of 44.2 per million. Oregon’s firearm suicide rate of 94.1 per million is much higher than the national rate of 70.1 per million.
Penny Okamoto, executive director of Ceasefire Oregon, said, “This report exposes the horrific gun violence issues of mass shootings, assault weapons, and the high rate of suicide in Oregon. Oregon’s history of mass shooting goes back decades and includes the 1995 domestic violence mass shooting in Scotts Mills of Laura Whitson and her three young daughters, and the 1998 mass shooting at Thurston High School in Springfield, Oregon, in which the shooter killed his parents and two fellow students, and injured 25 others.”
Okamoto continued, “This report clearly shows that assault rifles increase mass shooting deaths, including the death rate of children. Oregon must ban assault rifles and high-capacity magazines. Furthermore, the report shows the need to educate Oregonians about the deadly link between firearms and suicide. Eighty-two percent of all firearm-related deaths in Oregon are suicides. The high lethality rate of guns combined with easy access to an unsecured gun is a grave danger at any time, but particularly now when people are struggling financially and lack access to resources.”
The GVPedia report shows that from 2013 to 2019 states with weak gun laws had 50% more mass shootings and 50% more mass shooting fatalities than states with strong gun laws. During that time, 2,341 mass shootings left 2,642 people dead and 9,766 physically wounded.
“The evidence is clear: strong laws save lives.”
“The discussions around gun policy have become political and polarized, but the data is very clearly telling us that states with weak gun laws are putting their citizens in danger,” said Devin Hughes, President and founder of GVPedia and author of the report. “Policy should not be made based on emotions or anecdotes. No single law can stop this epidemic of violence, but policymakers need to listen to the facts and make changes that better protect innocent people from dying from gun violence.”
According to the report:
- Since 2013, the number of annual mass shootings nationwide jumped by 65%. In states with strong laws, mass shooting incidents increased by 33% and fatalities by 26%, but in states with weak laws, mass shootings increased by a staggering 91% and fatalities by 92%.
- States with weak laws experienced 63% more mass shootings with an assault weapon.
- The use of an assault weapon makes mass shootings four times more lethal.
The report uses data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the Gun Violence Archive (GVA), and the GVA definition of a mass shooting: “an incident in which four or more people are shot, not including the shooter” (Gun Violence Archive).
Ceasefire Oregon compiles data yearly from the Oregon Health Authority and the Centers for Disease Control. In 2018, a total of 519 people were fatally shot in Oregon. Of that:
- 427 people used a firearm to kill themselves.
- 67 people died from firearm homicide.
- 15 people were fatally shot during an incident with law enforcement.
- 10 people were fatally shot either unintentionally or with an unknown intent.
The GVPedia report, Mass Shootings in American: 2013 – 2019, can be found here.
Information about mass shootings in Oregon can be found here.
Information about mass shootings in the United States can be found here.
Ceasefire Oregon Education Foundation’s compilation of firearm-related deaths can be found here.
