Mass Shootings in America

Mother Jones reports that this year alone there had already been six mass shootings—and a record number of casualties, with 110 people injured and killed prior to the Sandy Hook incident.

The shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School is the 12th mass shooting at a school in the United States in the past 30 years, according to Mother Jones; it is the second deadliest shooting behind the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007 that killed 33 and injured 23.

• Cleveland Elementary School shooting in 1989, leaving 6 dead and 29 injured.
• University of Iowa shooting in 1991, leaving 6 dead and 1 injured.
• Lindhurst High School shooting in 1992, leaving 4 dead and 10 injured.
• Westside Middle School shooting in 1992, leaving 5 dead and 10 injured.
• Thurston High School shooting in 1998, leaving 4 dead and 25 injured.
• Columbine High School shooting in 1999, leaving 15 dead and 24 injured.
• Red Lake Senior High School shooting in 2005, leaving 10 dead and 5 injured.
• Amish schoolhouse shooting in 2006, leaving 6 dead and 5 injured.
• Northern Illinois University shooting in 2008, leaving 6 dead and 21 injured.
• Oikos University shooting in 2012, leaving 7 dead and 3 injured.

As a country, we have been through this too many times. Whether it's an elementary school in Newtown, or a shopping mall in Oregon, or a temple in Wisconsin, or a movie theater in Aurora, or a street corner in Chicago—these neighborhoods are our neighborhoods, and these children are our children. And we're going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics. (Barack Obama, 12/14/2012)