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@katiecouric : I love my Instagram followers and know many of you are reeling from the most recent mass shooting in Thousand Oaks, California. I wanted to make sure you (and I!) had accurate information about gun violence in America, so I reached out to Robyn Thomas, the Executive Director at the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. I hope the information below is useful as we continue to grapple with how to reduce the number of people who are killed by gun violence every day (an average of 96 a day) I am interested in working together to reduce gun violence and to spare the lives of those who were massacred simply trying to enjoy a night of line dancing and fun. I really believe if we work together, we can come up with some solutions that the majority of Americans can support. •There have been 307 mass shootings in the US so far this year. That is almost one per day. •A mass shooting is defined as “an incident in which four or more people are shot, not including the shooter.” •Children and teens in America are 17 times more likely to be killed with a firearm than young people in other developed countries. •Federal law requires federally licensed firearms dealers to do background checks and maintain records of all gun sales. The problem is a huge number of guns are purchased NOT from federally licensed firearms dealers but from private dealers, gun shows and online, where no background checks are required. •While 18 states have expanded the federal law to ensure background checks are done on ALL gun sales, 32 states HAVE NOT. •Researchers have found that states that require background checks on ALL gun sales have less than half as many mass shooting incidents (52% fewer) as states without that background check requirement. •90% of the American public supports background checks for all gun sales. •74% of NRA members support background checks for all gun sales. •There is no federal waiting period for purchasing guns. Federal law allows a dealer to deliver a gun to a purchase