A 16-year-old shooter killed three children and a teacher at an elementary school in Oregon on Thursday before being shot dead by an armed local who had pursued the attacker into the school.
asserted
who → kill → school
Children aged five, eight and 11 were among those killed, while a seven-year-old student and a teacher were taken to hospital with critical injuries, police said.
asserted
police → kill → injuries
Oregon governor Tina Kotek thanked the member of the public who “heroically intervened to stop further loss of life”.
asserted
who → thank → life
School shootings have become a recurring feature of American life, and each tragedy revives debates over gun laws in a country where gun rights are protected under the Constitution's second amendment.
asserted
rights → become → amendment
As of 15 October, as many as 370 mass shooting events - defined as four or more people injured or killed, not including the shooter - have already occurred this year, according to a tally by the Gun Violence Archive.
uncertain
events → define → Archive
Research shows that gun sales increase following mass shootings and in response to the law changes that follow, contributing to an ever-growing economy of violence.
asserted
that → show → violence
Why do people buy guns after a shooting?
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people → buy → shooting
A 2022 study in the Journal of Policy Modeling found a significant rise in gun sales immediately after an attack, a trend that typically lasts for as long as three to six months.
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that → find → months
The effect is larger following attacks with a higher number of casualties, they note.
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they → follow → casualties
But most of the purchases come from current owners stockpiling weapons, which suggests they may be motivated by fears of impending gun control measures, the authors suggest.
uncertain
authors → come → measures
Academics say that uncertainty and anxiety around future attacks also contribute to sales.
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uncertainty → say → sales
David Studdert, a professor of law and medicine at Stanford University, told the International Business Times (IBT) that while some are motivated by fears of new legislation in light of the event, others “are motivated by elevated feelings of insecurity and concerns for personal safety”.
asserted
others → tell → safety
Prof. Studdert said that there was limited research to suggest that gun purchases also increase following international terrorism events and unexpected election results, at least in California.
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purchases → say → California
The authors of a 2019 study noted that gun sales went up after the 2001 World Trade Center attacks.
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sales → note → attacks
But an increased fear of an attack does not always translate into gun sales, they noted.
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they → increase → sales
Who buys guns after a shooting?
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Who → buy → shooting
After the killing of George Floyd in 2020, and through the period of uncertainty that lingered through the Covid-19 pandemic, the percentage of US adults living in a home with a gun stood at 46 per cent.
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percentage → linger → cent
According to a survey from NORC at the University of Chicago, one in five households bought a gun between March 2020 and March 2022.
uncertain
households → accord → March
One in 20 adults in America bought a gun for the first time.
asserted
adults → buy → time
“Increasing gun sales during the pandemic were driven in nearly equal parts by people purchasing a gun for the first time and existing gun owners purchasing additional firearms,” said John Roman of NORC.
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Roman → increase → NORC
“New gun owners during the pandemic were much more likely to be younger and People of Color compared to pre-pandemic gun owners in America,” he added.
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he → compare → America
The research showed that 86 per cent of first time buyers during Covid were under 45, compared to just 41 per cent before the pandemic.
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cent → show → pandemic
NORC found that both groups had similar views on gun-control policies.
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groups → find → policies
Both first-time and pre-pandemic owners supported more permissive gun policies than non-gun owners, they reported.
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they → support → owners
A 2015 study found demand for guns rose with the likelihood of Barack Obama being elected in 2008.
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Obama → find → 2008
The authors suggested the increase was partially driven by fears of a future Obama gun-control policy.
uncertain
increase → suggest → policy
The states that saw the biggest increase in demand were 20 per cent more likely to experience a shooting event after the election, the authors noted.
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authors → see → election
How are gun sales changing?
asserted
sales → change → ?
Gun sales in the US reached a record 23 million in 2020, up 65 per cent from 2019.
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sales → reach → 2020
By comparison, an estimated 7.7 million guns were sold in the first six months of this year, up three per cent from the same period in 2025.
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guns → estimate → 2025
But the 15.5 million sold last year reflects a four per cent drop from 2024 and a steady trend away from the pandemic-era highs.
asserted
million → sell → highs
The figure is still higher than the 2010-2019 average, when around 13 million guns were sold legally in the US each year, according to the FBI.
uncertain
guns → sell → FBI
Mass shooting events also hit a recent high during the pandemic.
asserted
events → hit → pandemic
The number of events in which four or more people were killed or injured by gunshots, not including the shooter, in 2024 was 504.
asserted
people → kill → 2024
But that was a decrease from the 611 events seen in 2020, 689 in 2021 and 644 in 2022.
asserted
that → see → 2022
The first six months of this year saw a total 6,458 shooting deaths and 11,781 related injuries, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
uncertain
months → see → Archive
The Aporia
