United Guns Of America

Parents and students are reunited after a shooting at Reynolds High School in Troutdale, Oregon

Again. Again. And again. A spree of mass shootings have blemished America within the past half decade–over 40 have occured so far in 2015 alone. The latest–and the fourth at a U.S college campus since August–happened at Umpaqua Community College in southern Oregon.

The alleged shooter is 26 year old Chris Harper. Boylan, whose daughter survived the shooting, told US television network CNN that his daughter described to him how the gunman asked his victims to state their religion before shooting them.

“‘Are you a Christian?’ he would ask them, ‘and if you are a Christian stand up,’” the father recalled.

The gunman then told the victims: “because you’re a Christian you’re going to see God in just about one second”.

The shooting has left 10 people dead and 7 injured. Speaking on the shooting yesterday President Obama said, “We are the only advanced country on Earth that sees these kinds of mass shootings every few months.” A sad truth indeed.

11 Facts about gun violence in the US

1. There’s roughly one gun for every person in America

2. Gun crime is more prevalent in the US than in any other rich country

3. Gun homicide (like all homicides) are declining

4. Places with more guns have more homicides

5. There are more gun suicides than gun homicides in the US

6. Suicide is more common in places with more guns

7. Living in a house with a gun increases your odds of death

8. Guns contribute to domestic violence

9. Mass shootings are not getting more common–and are a tiny percentage of all shootings

10. A tiny fraction of gun violence is committed by the mentally ill

11. Gun control is popular but getting less so