American Exceptionalism And Mass Shootings

526 Words3 Pages
The concept American exceptionalism still has an impact on American thought in today’s society. On the other hand, a number of people have begun to critique its ideals and how it affects the American population. Mass shootings, for example, are one of the biggest current problems in the United States. From 1996 to 2012, there were 291 documented mass shootings in the world. 90 occurred in the United States alone; which accounts for 31 percent of those mass shootings. The country with the second highest amount of mass shootings between 1996 and 2012 was the Philippines with 18, followed by Russia with 15, Yemen with 11, and France with 10 (Stableford). Criminologist Adam Lankford argues that there is a correlation between mass shootings and