Montana One of 13 States Without a Mass Shooting So Far in 2022
Mass shootings have become quite a tricky topic as of late in the United States. The country has had a total of 517 mass shootings so far, which is defined as a shooting that wounds and/or kills at least four people. But, some states have avoided mass shootings as of the publishing of this article, which is 9 full months into 2022. Montana is one of those states. This is great, but the issue of gun violence is still something that needs to be addressed.
Montana Still Has Gun Crime in 2022, Despite No Mass Shootings
Despite not having a mass shooting in Montana since 2019, Montana has still encountered some gun crimes this year. According to the Gun Violence Archive, Montana has had 68 instances of gun violence so far in 2022. These are the result of a number of factors, such as domestic violence, burglary, theft, and others.
However, when you compare those numbers to places with larger populations such as California, New York, Washington, and Texas, the number of crimes is upwards of 30 times higher. California has the highest of the four, coming in at a whopping 1992 gun crimes and 40 mass shootings. However, it's important to consider that California is much more densely populated than Montana; statistically, one out of every 15,618 people in Montana will commit a gun crime, California gun crime happens once out of every 19,754 people.
Since 2013, Montana Has Had 4 Mass Shooting Incidents
In a drop of good news, the last time Montana had a mass shooting was in 2019, in which a Great Falls man killed three people and injured another outside a bar and was killed by police later. It was only the fourth incident of its kind in Montana since 2013 and no mass shooting has occurred since. Hopefully that trend continues as we finish up the 2022 year.
I sure hope that Montana gun crimes can continue to be impressive in comparison with the rest of the nation. However, the existence of them in the first place is absolutely awful. Let's be better people out there, and use firearms safely and responsibly.