The illustration above came via The Big Picture and can be originally found here.

And the source was Mother Jones — from a study now two years old!

The trend appeared to be no coincidence in light of the proliferation of guns and looser gun laws nationwide.
One leading criminologist took issue with our criteria, arguing that mass shootings had not become more common.
But now, research from an expert on criminal justice at Texas State University further shows that gun rampages in the United States have escalated.
…
Blair’s data also underscores a striking parallel we found: The unprecedented spike in these shootings came during the same four-year period, from 2009-12, that saw a wave of nearly 100 state laws making it easier to obtain, carry, and conceal firearms.

Nothing has changed, except the killings are getting worse — so far in 2013, there’s been at least 16 mass shootings — four or more people killed, as defined by the FBI — with 83 fatalities, and we’ve still three full months left.

WTF wrong with this picture?

Cynthia McCabe at the Washington Post answers, somewhat, and it’s just numbing:

What number of dead here would it have taken to give the nation pause?
Twelve people were fatally shot at the Navy Yard on Monday, and America hardly noticed.
President Obama perfunctorily noted that “yet another mass shooting” had occurred.
He required no moment to get control of his emotions, as he had at the lectern after the mass shooting in Newtown, Conn.
Perhaps because he knew that the massacre of 20 children and six educators, and his subsequent attempts to jump-start the gun-control debate, changed nothing when it came to meaningful violence prevention.
He knows that our country is still beholden to a Congress that blanches at the thought of an unfavorable NRA voting record while it tries more than 40 times to repeal a law making affordable mental health care available to those who desperately need it.
…
When 12 people are massacred in the District, it’s not people dying in Real America.
The nation does not stand D.C. Strong.
Facebook profile pictures do not become ribbons.
Phones do not ring off the hook, just to be sure we’re okay.
…
Beyond the Beltway, Americans can be forgiven for not knowing the geography of the city.
For not knowing that everything here happens within a few miles.
That the site of the massacre is about a block from a park where kids splash in a fountain.
What cannot be forgiven is the dehumanization of a town and the uninterest when 12 people who work there do not make it home.

Read some reaction to the piece here.

And nothing will change, except for those actually getting shot at, and their family and friends.
The rest of us?