Gun violence killed more than 42,000 Americans this year. Will 2023 be different?

As countless families mark their first holiday season without loved ones, how does a country where so many mass shootings happen per year break the shameful cycle, writes Megan Sheets

Flowers and candles are placed around crosses at a memorial outside Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, to honor the victims killed in the shooting (AP)

In total, 42,981. That’s how many Americans have been killed by gun violence so far this year. Of those, more than 650 were killed in at least 626 mass shootings, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

The shooting sprees are so frequent that we come to know them by short, simple names: Brooklyn subway, Buffalo supermarket, Uvalde, Highland Park, Raleigh, University of Virginia, Colorado Springs, Chesapeake Walmart. It’s unspeakably sad that I’ve probably said each name more than I’ve said the names of my colleagues in The Independent’s New York City bureau this year. These tragedies dominate our day-to-day; each time one passes, we’re watching out for the next one. If you asked me to summarise the news of 2022 in one word, my first thought would be: “Shooting.”

I know I’m betraying the spirit of the season somewhat by dedicating an editor’s letter just a couple days before Christmas to such a depressing topic. But we can’t forget that this month, almost 43,000 people won’t be going home for the holidays, their absence felt acutely by their loved ones. And as we ring in another new year, we have to ask: will 2023 finally bring the gun control we need so desperately?