Gun violence has been rising, but in the past five years, there’s been a notable increase in both mass and individual shootings. According to The Gun Violence Archive, the number of mass shootings rose sharply between 2019 and 2020, with gun violence and casualties peaking in 2021.

Our infographic examines the data behind the rise in active shooters and mass shootings.

Where and when do shootings take place?

Active shooters tend to target places of business for their crimes, and they often choose times when the most people will be at work or out in public. Data shows that most mass shootings (defined by the FBI as any incident in which at least four people are killed with a gun) take place in public spaces and places of commerce, and half take place during normal business hours.

The same is true for school shootings. School shooters most often strike times when schools are busiest, such as morning classes, dismissal, and sporting events, and most of those shootings are the result of an escalated dispute.

What is the cost of gun violence?

While the greatest costs of a shooting is the loss of human life and the suffering of the survivors, there are financial costs as well. These include the medical costs of survivors who often endure years of trauma and treatment.

There are also legal suits brought against various entities, from the local government to the FBI to the businesses or schools where the shootings took place. The dollar amounts of those reported settlements are in the millions; in 2020, courts approved an $800 million settlement from MGM Resorts International and its insurers to more than 4,400 relatives and victims of the Las Vegas Strip shooting. In 2023, Michigan State reportedly settled with the families of the victims of the MSU shooting for $15 million.

How can you prevent shootings at your site?

The first step is to acknowledge an incident is possible. No one wants to believe a shooting could happen at their workplace, but planning for an active shooter is critical when it comes to avoiding loss of life.

There are several best practices when it comes to preparing for a possible attack. The three Ds of security — deter, detect, and delay — can help reduce the probability of a shooting before an event happens. When an organization uses countermeasures in each of these three categories, it changes the site’s environment in a way that makes it more difficult for incidents to occur. For example, using cameras in the parking garage can help catch a gunman before they enter a building. Access control can help keep them out.

This isn’t always possible; sometimes shooters already have access to a site. They may be a current employee or student. Although you can use passive scanning technology to scan for weapons (systems like Xtract One Technologies Inc. formerly Patriot One Technologies’ Patscan System, can provide a layer of protection against firearms being brought on-site) you may not be able to prevent the shooter from entering or attacking.

What if a shooting happens anyhow?

If it’s not possible to prevent a shooting, the best thing to do is to be prepared. The three Rs — response, report, and recovery — help you to reduce harm and recover from an incident if it does happen.

Your organization needs to respond quickly and effectively to the incident. Whether you have a rapid response team or a shelter in place plan, you need to have everyone prepared. A response plan minimizes injuries and loss of life by moving your employees to safe areas and working with authorities to stop the shooter. For example, I’m always surprised that schools and workplaces don’t keep first aid kits for ballistic wounds on site in case of an active shooting. Measures like this help to mitigate harm in the case that a shooting takes place.

Reporting focuses on communication, and reviewing the response plan to see if anything could have been done differently to improve your response. A recovery plan helps your organization communicate and rebuild in the wake of an attack. It includes counseling, working with survivors, and strengthening defenses.

Learn more about how to prepare for an active shooter scenario at your workplace by contacting our experts today.

About the Author

Daniel Young

Founder & Chief Innovation Officer

Daniel has been a security and risk advisor for more than 10 years, and is passionate about helping companies to better understand their risks to undesirable events on a daily basis. Dan previously served as the Regional Bioterrorism Coordinator for District 1 in Michigan, where he was instrumental in preparing communities for catastrophic incidents. He has also acted as the Private Security Liaison for the City of Lansing’s Critical Infrastructure Team, which identified and documented deficiencies in the city’s critical infrastructure.

He is a Co-Founder of the CSO Risk Council, a think tank of seasoned security professionals and thought leaders with extensive experience in managing the physical security and risks of large enterprises consisting of multiple sites and whose mission is to create a better process to develop and share innovative solutions and pertinent information with organizations to improve safety and security risk by providing a forum to discuss best practices and recommendations for specific risk scenarios and to network with other enterprise security professionals.