As we continue the conversation about gun violence and safety in the wake of the tragedy in Parkland, FL, it is easy to distance ourselves from the problem, despite our shared fear and outrage. We must remember that mass shootings like this are not someone else’s problem, but rather something that impacts and threatens us all.
Despite that we haven’t experienced any school shootings in recent Wisconsin history, mass shootings have happened across the state, from the rural northwest to the suburbs of Milwaukee. The victims and survivors have been as varied as the incidents, ranging from members of a Sikh congregation in Oak Creek to deer hunters in Birchwood. A few common threads emerge: all of the shooters were male, and many of the cases involved domestic violence.
This map demonstrates the scourge of mass shootings in our state’s recent history and some of the details related to each instance. The information is from the Stanford Mass Shootings of America project and the Gun Violence Mass Shooting Archive.
It’s well past time for us to take real action to protect our kids, families, and communities from gun violence. If we don’t act, we shoulder the blame the next time someone uses a weapon of war to kill more Wisconsinites.
