Most Mass Gun Killers are also Legal Gun Owners - Research

Europe's Largest Recent Mass Shootings Were Committed by Licensed Gun Owners

In Europe's most deadly recent multiple shootings, almost all the killers were previously law-abiding licensed gun owners and gun club members with lawfully held firearms

In the eight deadliest mass shootings committed in Western Europe in the past 20 years, all but one of the killers - including 18-year-old Pekka-Eric Auvinen who shot dead 8 people and then himself on 7 November in Finland - were previously law-abiding sporting shooters or gun club members.

In each case, the perpetrator's legal ownership of firearms was not questioned by authorities until after the tragedy. 

Deadliest Mass Shootings (8 or more dead) in Europe, 1987-2007 

This situation is not unique to Europe. In a study of 65 high-profile multiple-victim shootings in the United States over a period of 40 years, 62% of handgun shootings and 71% of long gun shootings were committed with legally acquired firearms.* Similar studies in Canada, Australia and New Zealand confirm that most mass shootings are committed by perpetrators (98% of them male) who were lawfully entitled to possess the firearms used.

* Where'd They Get Their Guns? An Analysis of the Firearms Used in High-Profile Shootings. Violence Policy Centre. Washington DC, 2002

Data from Philip Alpers, School of Public Health, University of Sydney

Deadliest Mass Shootings (10 or more dead) in Western Democracies

1966-2002

The following data were prepared in the wake of the shooting in Erfurt, Germany, 26 April 2002.

 

In the 14 deadliest mass shootings committed in wealthy nations during the past 35 years:

• 79% of the victims were shot with lawfully held firearms (185 of 233 victims)

• 86% of these mass shooting (12 of 14) were committed by lawful gun owners

Many killers, like the 19-year-old who shot 16 people dead at his school in Germany, were previously law-abiding sporting shooters or pistol club members - men whose legal ownership of guns was not questioned by authorities until after the tragedy.