This fact-focused article by The New York Times puts emotion and politics aside to take a hard look at the numbers in order to provide an explanation for why mass shootings are so much more prevalent in America than other countries. Every potential explanation for America’s higher occurrence of mass shootings can be debunked by looking at other parts of the world except for one: America has an exponentially higher number of guns than any other country.

By examining all the hot button issues of the gun debate (gun control laws, mental health, cultural differences, etc.) through facts and comparing the U.S. to other countries, the numbers when viewed through this lens always lead to the same conclusion: the prevalence of American gun violence comes down to the prevalence of guns in America.