LOCALIZE IT: State gun policies diverge after mass shootings

EDITORS/NEWS DIRECTORS:

Another year, another a month, another day with more mass shootings.

After more than 600 mass shootings were recorded in 2022 — for the third straight year — the new year has begun with more deadly mass shootings, including four that occurred in barely a week in California and left more than two dozen dead.

Lawmakers, who are beginning their sessions in many states, are again grappling over what to do in response, if anything.

Rather than provoking a united response from elected officials, each additional shooting seems to be widening the political divide among states regarding who should be allowed to have guns and what types are OK.

In Democratic-led states with already restrictive gun laws, elected officials have responded to home-state tragedies by enacting and proposing even more limits on guns — doubling down on a belief that future shootings can be thwarted by controlling access to lethal weapons.

In many states with Republican-led legislatures, recent high-profile shootings appear unlikely to prompt any new firearm restrictions this year — reflecting a belief that violent people, not their weapons, are the problem.

Here are some tips and resources for localizing the story. Find AP’s latest coverage here.

WHAT QUALIFIES AS A MASS SHOOTING?

There is no official definition of what qualifies as a mass shooting, but it's generally construed to include at least several victims.

The Gun Violence Archive defines a mass shooting as an incident in which four or more people are shot — whether killed or injured. Shooters who turn the gun on themselves are excluded from the tally. The archive includes more details about its methodology online.

In 2022, there were 647 mass shootings — the third consecutive year with more than 600, according to archive data.

A separate database of mass killings is kept by a partnership that includes Northeastern University, The Associated Press and USA Today. The database is broader in that it includes mass killings committed with other means than only guns. But it's also narrower in the sense that it only includes incidents in which four or more people — besides the shooter — were killed.

There are 59 data fields included in the research, including the number of victims involved in each mass killing, when the attacks occurred and the type of locations where they happened, like a home or school.

These interactives allow you to explore the data from your cities and states:

— Search mass killing incidents

— Mass killings by location scaled by number of victims

WHAT DOES THE RESEARCH SAY ABOUT STATE GUN POLICIES?

While various studies have focused on violence committed with guns, some researchers have honed in more specifically on how state laws seem to be associated with mass shootings.

A study published in 2020 analyzed more than 600 mass shootings involving four or more murdered victims in 45 states that occurred from 1984 through 2017. It excluded shootings related to gangs and drugs. The report outlines which specific laws it tracked in each state.

Though so-called assault weapon bans on certain semi-automatic weapons are among the most talked about gun-control measures, the study found that they do not seem to be associated with reductions in deadly mass shootings. A common solution from gun-rights advocates — allowing people to carry concealed guns without a permit as a means of fighting back against shooters — also seemed to have little connection to the number of mass shootings, according the study.

What did work? The study found that state laws requiring gun owners to be licensed and undergo fingerprint background checks appeared to reduce the risk of fatal mass shootings. It found that bans on large-capacity magazines for ammunition also seemed, at least to some degree, to reduce the number of fatal mass shootings.

REPORTING AVENUES

— State legislative sessions are underway in most states or about to begin in others. If your state or region experienced a mass shooting last year, what are lawmakers proposing in response to it? All state legislatures have a means of viewing legislation online. Many state House and Senate websites also allow keyword searches of legislation. Enter the word “gun” or “firearm” and see what you come up with.

— Some state officials aren't proposing new regulations on guns in response to mass shootings but rather are proposing other solutions. In some cases, this involves spending money on such things as school safety initiatives or mental health services. Governors typically propose budgets to legislators around the start of the year. So details should be available on how much they are proposing to spend on such efforts. Are their spending recommendations increasing? If so, do they cite mass shootings as part of the reason?

— Families personally affected by mass shootings may, or may not, want to talk about it. Some relatives of victims of the Uvalde, Texas, school shooting recently traveled to the state Capitol to urge passage of stricter gun laws. But even if affected families aren't ready to talk, others in communities where mass shootings occurred likely are willing to discuss what — if anything — they think elected officials should do.

— Perhaps your state, or area, did not have a mass shooting last year. But almost all places have been affected by high-profile shootings at some point within the past couple decades. If time has passed, it's perhaps worth some follow-up to see whether things have changed. If your state responded with new laws, how have they worked? Have enhanced security measures been implemented — and maintained — at schools, businesses or other affected places? Are there still visible scars in the community?

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Localize It is an occasional feature produced by The Associated Press for its customers’ use. Questions can be directed to Katie Oyan at koyan@ap.org.