It's become commonplace to talk of an "epidemic" of mass shootings. But new data suggests the "only epidemic is in fear levels," as Northeastern University criminologist James Alan Fox puts it.
The data come from USA Today, Northeastern University, and the Associated Press, which tracked mass murders in which four or more people (excluding the killer) were killed in a 24-hour period. Fox oversees this database, which goes back to 2006. It includes not just mass shootings but other sorts of mass murder, such as arsons and vehicular homicides.
