As of March 19, ***** school shootings were recorded in the United States in 2025, impacting K-12 school grounds and college campuses nationwide. In comparison, there were ** school shooting incidents recorded in 2024. In addition to schools, gun-related violence occurs in many public places within the United States, including workplaces, churches, restaurants, and nightclubs. The source defines school shootings as incidents of gun violence which occurred on school property and at least one person was shot, not including the shooter. School property includes, but is not limited to, buildings, fields, parking lots, stadiums and buses. Accidental discharges of firearms are included, as long as at least one person is shot, but not if the sole shooter is law enforcement or school security.

The deadliest school shooting in the United States as of September 4, 2024, was the Virginia Tech massacre, with 32 fatalities and 23 injuries. The next deadliest school shooting (based on fatalities) was the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, with 27 fatalities. School shootings in the U.S. Mass shootings in the United States have become a disturbingly common occurrence, and sadly, so have school shootings. The Columbine school shooting is perhaps the most famous in the country’s history, and since 1999 (when the shooting occurred), the number of school shootings has only increased. Many measures have been used to try to prevent school shootings, including security guards and metal detectors being deployed in schools, and even the suggestion that teachers be allowed to carry guns in schools. Gun control Gun control in the United States is a sticky issue, since gun ownership is enshrined in the Constitution. Some advocate for stricter gun control laws to try to prevent future mass shootings, while others say that this is unconstitutional. Gun ownership rates in the U.S. are high, with the share of American households owning at least one firearm remaining relatively steady since 1972.

In 2023, **** cases of incidents involving the discharge of firearms were reported in Japan. Although figures fluctuated from year to year, this continued a general downward trend after the decade-high number of ** gun shooting incidents reported in 2014. ***** people died from gun shooting incidents in 2023. Gun control Gun possession for general citizens in Japan is strictly regulated under the Act for Controlling the Possession of Firearms or Swords and Other Such Weapons enacted in 1958. According to the act, gun possession is only allowed for hunting and shooting sports purposes. The only firearms permitted for ownership are hunting rifles, shotguns, other hunting guns, and air guns. It is required to undergo numerous procedures to obtain a gun permit, such as providing a resume and a medical certificate from a psychiatrist, attending classroom lectures and technical training, and passing exams. Applicants must repeat similar procedures every three years to renew the permit. As of 2023, about ******* guns were owned with licenses among citizens across the country. The number of confiscated weapons in 2023 amounted to *** pistols, ***** hunting guns, and ** air guns. Killing of Shinzo Abe Ex-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the longest-serving prime minister in Japanese history, was shot and killed in July 2022. The incident marked the first assassination of a former Japanese prime minister since 1936. The suspect used a homemade gun created with DIY store materials. Following the incident, experts suggest tightening the security system for politicians and regulations for handmade or modified guns.

In 2022, the total number of homicides by shooting in Canada increased by 45 numbers (+15.1 percent) since 2021. With 343 numbers, the total number thereby reached its highest value in the observed period.

There were ***** firearm offences recorded in London 2023/24, compared with ***** in 2022/23. Compared with previous years, there were far fewer offences in 2020/21 and 2021/22, which may have been due to the lockdowns brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. This is also reflected in London's overall crime rate, which fell from ***** crimes per 1,000 people in 2019/20, to **** in 2020/21, before increasing to **** in 2021/22, and ***** in the most recent reporting year. Firearm homicides rare in the UK The United Kingdom has some of the strictest gun laws in the world, resulting in relatively low levels of gun crime and firearm homicides. In 2022/23 just *** percent of homicides in England and Wales were the result of shootings, compared with **** percent in the United States in 2021. The most common method of killing for homicides in England and Wales was by far the use of a sharp instrument at **** percent of homicides in the 2022/23 reporting year. London police budget rising In 2023/24 the budget for policing in London reached **** billion British pounds, compared with **** billion pounds in the previous financial year. This is the sixth-consecutive year of London's police budget increasing, compared with the period between 2013/14 and 2018/19, when it remained around *** billion pounds, and was actually smaller than in 2012/13 when the budget was **** billion. These budget increases have occurred alongside a recruitment drive for police officers. In 2023, there were ****** police officers in London, compared with just ****** in 2018.

In 2019, there were six deaths by homicide per 100,000 of the population in the United States, compared to 5.9 deaths by homicide in the previous year. This is an increase from 1950, when there were 5.1 deaths by homicide per 100,000 resident population in the United States. However, within the provided time period, the death rate for homicide in the U.S. was highest in 1980, when there were 10.4 deaths by homicide per 100,000 of the population in the United States.

Homicides in the United States

The term homicide is used when a human being is killed by another human being. Criminal homicide takes several forms, for example murder; but homicide is not always a crime, it also includes affirmative defense, insanity, self-defense or the execution of convicted criminals. In the United States, youth homicide has especially been seen as a problem of urban areas, due to poverty, limited adult supervision, involvement in drug and gang activities, and school failure. Both homicide rates and suicide rates in the U.S. among people aged 20 to 24 and teenagers aged 15 to 19 have vastly increased since 2001.