With the death of 10 people in a shooting rampage at a college in Oregon on Thursday, including the alleged gunman, gun violence is once again at the forefront of the public conversation in the United States. The Washington Post reports that so far in 2015, the U.S. has seen 294 mass shootings (incidents where 4 or more people are killed or injured by gunfire) in 274 days. A clearly agitated President Obama made his 15th statement on mass shootings since taking office, challenging the media to compare the number of Americans killed by terrorism and gun violence.
According to Justice and State Department data published by Vox, over 10,000 Americans are killed by gun violence every year. Since 9/11, the number of U.S. citizens killed in terrorist attacks each year has never surpassed 75. Obama has pointed out that while the U.S. rightfully pours trillions of dollars into protecting its citizens from terrorism, Congress is unwilling to take even the most minor steps to eradicate gun violence.
*Click below to enlarge (charted by Statista)