Mass shootings are horrific tragedies regardless of where they occur, and I understand why they dominate the conversation. But the claim that they only happen in America is factually wrong.

The Crime Prevention Research Center analyzed mass shooting data from 1998 to 2015 across all countries. When measured by deaths per capita, the United States ranked 64th globally. Norway had the highest rate per capita due to the 2011 Breivik attack (77 killed). France experienced the 2015 Bataclan attack (130 killed) and the Nice truck attack (86 killed). The 2011 Utoya and 2019 Christchurch attacks show these events aren't uniquely American.

A Lott and Moody study published in the Econ Journal Watch compared mass shooting rates across developed nations from 2009-2015 and found that many European countries had higher per-capita rates of mass shootings than the United States, including Norway, Serbia, France, Macedonia, Albania, Slovakia, Switzerland, Finland, and Belgium.

The perception that mass shootings are uniquely American is driven by media coverage, not data. American media covers U.S. shootings intensively for weeks, while international events receive brief coverage. This creates a severe availability bias.

It's also important to note that the definition of 'mass shooting' varies dramatically. Some databases count any incident with four or more shot (including the shooter, including non-fatal), which inflates the numbers with gang violence and domestic incidents. When you use the FBI's definition of active shooter events in public places, the numbers are much smaller — about 61 incidents in 2022.

The U.S. does have more gun violence overall, driven primarily by gang and drug-related urban violence, not mass shootings. Mass shootings, while devastating, account for less than 1% of all gun deaths. Treating them as the primary gun violence problem leads to policies that address less than 1% of the issue.