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Originally Posted by afc wimbledon
it is vastly higher in the US, it is still unlikely but none the less vastly higher
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The overwhelming majority of mass shootings* in the U.S. are gang-related. If you’re not involved in gangs or the drug trade, or live a neighbourhood where gang activity and the drug trade are concentrated, you’re left with the far less common random shooter scenarios. Which is higher in the U.S. than in Canada, sure. But still so rare that it’s totally irrational to let it deter you from travelling to the U.S.
The only reason those two very different types of incidents are lumped in together in stats is media sensationalism.
* The Gun Violence Archive defines a mass shooting as four or more people shot, not including the shooter. It does not distinguish between shooting in public or private spaces, or those that are related to gang violence or other criminal activities. The FBI uses a much narrower criteria (and one that confirms to what most people think of as a mass shooting) of three or more people shot dead in public through actions not related to terrorism, gang activity, or the commission of other crimes. Guess which definition media outlets like CNN use when they publish stats?