“In the United States, we do not have a monopoly on mass fire,” says James Alan Fox, “although we certainly have more than our share.”
Police in Sweden has not yet identified a reason for the worst mass shootings in the country’s history.
The attack on an adult education center in the city of Orebro, which has made at least 11 lives – including the suspected aggressor – and injured six people is a tragic recall that mass shots are not Limited in the United States, a criminologist from the Northeast University said.
“We have seen large -scale mass fire in Russia, Norway, England, Germany and other countries,” explains James Alan FoxProfessor of research of criminology, law and public policy in Northeastern. “In the United States, we do not have a monopoly on mass fire, although we certainly have more than our share.”
A study by Fox and his colleagues revealed that around 16% of mass fire in the world – not to mention acts of political terror – were committed in the United States
“We have 5% of the world’s population,” explains Fox. “Thus, 16% of mass shots amount to about three times our share.”
Fox doubts that American mass shots influence similar tragedies in other countries.
“If that were the case, you will find shots elsewhere by following the shots of our country more closely,” explains Fox. “I would not necessarily see the shooting in Sweden as a copy of what we had.”
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According to the Associated Press / USA TODAY / NORTHEASTERN University Mass Killing DatabaseThat Fox manages, the United States experienced a 27% drop in mass shootings with four or more deaths of the victims in 2024 compared to the previous year.
“The last mass shooting on a very large scale in our country was in Lewiston, Maine, more than a year ago,” said Fox about the shots that made 18 lives in October 2023.
The world Five deadliest mass shots occurred outside the United States – in Pakistan, Kenya, France and Norway. promulgate tighter firearms.
“Australia has essentially prohibited the private property of firearms,” says Fox about the response to the 1996 murders of 35 people at Port Arthur, in Tasmania, by a assailant with a semi-automatic rifle. “They have done a national acquisition and have had no other mass shoot for decades now.
“But we are not in Australia,” adds Fox. “We have a second amendment that makes the legislation strictly impossible.”
The mass shot in Orebro occurred despite the strict laws of Sweden. Although gang violence has increased in Sweden, Fox describes tragedy as an aberrant value while noting Sweden rate of 0.3 homicides linked to firearms per 100,000 inhabitants.
In comparison, Massachusetts has a murder rate linked to firearms of 1.6 per 100,000 peoplewhich classifies the Massachusetts among the safest states in the United States
“The Sweden rate is much lower than the Massachusetts,” explains Fox. “These events occur elsewhere – but not to the same extent that they occur here.”