Where do Americans draw lines when it comes to guns and teens?
In the United States, a male under 25 is now the most likely suspect of a mass shooting.
Consider three examples from this year:
- A 22-year-old wearing body armor and wielding an AR-15 attacked an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado, in November, killing five and injuring 17.
- A 19-year-old New York man pleaded guilty Monday to domestic terrorism motivated by hate, which his lawyer said “represents a condemnation of the racist ideology that fueled his horrific actions on May 14.” He will be sentenced to life in prison without parole for opening fire in a Buffalo grocery store, killing 10 Black people and injuring three others.
- And in Uvalde, Texas, an 18-year-old in May used an assault-style rifle to kill 19 schoolchildren and two teachers before being killed by police after a long standoff.
Of the 30 deadliest mass shootings between 1949 and 2017, only two were carried out by someone younger than 21.
But six of the nine deadliest mass shootings since 2018 were committed by people 21 or younger.
The reasons behind the shift are not conclusive, but experts cite the adolescent mental health crisis, male despair in America, and a loosening of gun laws that allows teenagers in more states to purchase weapons, including long guns. That has
