The Statistics of Slaughter

AP Photo/LM Otero

According to statistics compiled by USA Today, there have been 176 mass shootings (out of 232 total mass killings) in the United States since January 2006, 24 of those since the Newtown massacre last December. (A "mass killing" is defined as one in which four or more people are killed.) According to the paper, the FBI statistics, which many use as the authoritative source, are only 61% accurate, owing in large part to cases not reported or erroneously reported by police agencies. Florida does not report homicide data to the FBI, and two other states started doing so only in 2009 (informational, interactive slideshow): http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/mass-killings/index.html#title