By Amy Sherman | Politifact
Published on August 29, 2025
In the wake of a tragic school shooting in Minneapolis on August 27, Senator Chris Murphy, a prominent advocate for stronger gun regulations, asserted that recent legislative measures during the Biden administration have contributed to a decrease in mass shootings across the country.
Murphy expressed his concerns on social media, stating, “It’s profoundly troubling that children now associate back-to-school season with a need to run for their lives.” He highlighted the passage of the gun safety bill in 2022, noting that it marked a significant but insufficient initial step toward tackling mass shootings. “While there was a decline following our reforms, it is imperative that we do much more,” he emphasized.
The senator referenced the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which President Biden signed into law in June 2022 after horrific incidents in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas. This legislation represented the first substantial federal response to gun violence in nearly 30 years, combining measures for gun safety with funding for mental health and school security programs.
In Minneapolis, the recent outburst of violence occurred when 23-year-old Robin Westman opened fire during a morning mass meant to kickoff the school year, resulting in the deaths of two children and injuries to 18 others. Westman subsequently took his own life.
Murphy’s office cited data from the Gun Violence Archive to demonstrate a decline in the number of mass shootings, showing a drop from 660 in 2023 to 503 in 2024. However, experts cautioned that determining a direct correlation between the 2022 legislation and this decrease is complex. While the law may have influenced trends in gun violence, no definitive research exists to confirm its direct impact.
Professor Alex R. Piquero of the University of Miami remarked, “While we can’t rule out the potential effects of the legislation, the interplay of various factors, including an overall decrease in crime and different intervention strategies, complicates the matter.”
The Challenge of Defining Mass Shootings
A significant hurdle in this conversation is the lack of a standardized definition for mass shootings. Various organizations adopt different criteria for categorizing such events, leading to substantial discrepancies in reported statistics. For instance, the Gun Violence Archive classifies a mass shooting as an event where at least four individuals, excluding the shooter, are injured or killed. According to their records, there were 642 mass shootings in 2022, 660 in 2023, 503 in 2024, and 286 so far in 2025.
Despite indications of a reduction in mass shootings, experts stress caution in attributing these changes solely to the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. The law encompasses numerous provisions, including funding for state-level “red flag” laws, which allow for temporary removal of firearms from individuals deemed a threat.
Jaclyn Schildkraut, executive director of the Regional Gun Violence Research Consortium, emphasized that understanding the law’s impact would require long-term, comprehensive analysis. “Given the rarity of mass shootings, discerning a genuine trend from mere fluctuations is particularly challenging,” she noted.
Terry Schell, a senior researcher at the Rand Corporation, reinforced this sentiment: “Identifying a causal relationship between a national law and shifts in the incidence of mass shootings is incredibly complex. A decrease might suggest a variety of influencing factors, not solely the legislation in question.”
Conclusion
Senator Murphy claimed that gun safety reforms enacted in 2022 coincided with a drop in mass shootings. While he is correct in noting the reduction illustrated by Gun Violence Archive data, experts remain uncertain about the legislation’s specific influence on these trends. Thus, while Murphy’s assertion contains elements of truth, it also overlooks significant complexities surrounding gun violence and legislative impact.
Rating: Half True
Research contributed by Caryn Baird.