How Many Mass Shootings Happened Under Trump?

While many are struggling for answers as yet another mass shooting in the U.S. took the lives of at least 21 people, this time mainly children, some Trump supporters claim that there weren't any mass shootings in the years that he was president, which is false. How many mass shootings happened under Trump?

According to data from GunViolenceArchive.org, there were hundreds of mass shootings during the years Trump was in office. The website defines a “mass shooting” as a single event where four or more are shot and/or killed (not including the shooter) at the same general time and location.

Here’s a breakdown of the mass shootings between when Trump took office in 2017 and his last year in office in 2020:

• 348 in 2017

• 336 in 2018

• 417 in 2019

• 615 in 2020

The deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history to date happened under Trump’s presidency. In October 2017, 59 people were killed, and over 500 were injured when a lone gunman opened fire at a Las Vegas music festival. Some other notable mass shootings that occurred under Trump’s presidency include:

• November 5, 2017 – 26 people were killed when a gunman opened fire in a rural church in Sutherland Springs, Texas.

• February 14, 2018 – 17 students and teachers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., were killed by a former student.

• October 17, 2018 – 11 members of the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh were killed when a gunman opened fire while they were gathered for a Sabbath service.

• November 7, 2018 – 12 people in a bar in Thousand Oaks, Calif., were killed in a shooting by a former Marine.

• May 31, 2019 – 12 employees in a Virginia Beach municipal building were killed by a disgruntled public utility employee.

• August 3, 2019 – 22 people at a Wal-Mart in El Paso, Texas, were fatally shot by a man who called the attack “a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas.”

While some may believe that there weren't any U.S. mass shootings in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown, that's also false. In fact, 2020 had the most mass shootings of all four years that Trump was in office. There were 615 mass shootings in 2020, in which 521 people were killed and 2,541 injured.

The number of mass shootings has continued to increase since Trump left office. In 2021, there were 692 mass shootings in the U.S, according to GunViolenceArchive.org data. So far this year, there have already been over 200 mass shootings, 27 of which occurred at schools.

“How many more children will be killed by guns? How many young lives cut short, families shattered, communities traumatized because our leaders refuse to act on gun violence?” tweeted Arizona Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, who was a victim of a mass shooting. “Gun violence is a uniquely American problem – and it is now the leading cause of death for American children.”