Washington: The United States is, by a long shot, the global leader in mass shootings, claiming just 5 per cent of the global population but an outsized share – 31 per cent – of the world's mass shooters since 1966, a new study finds.

The Philippines, Russia, Yemen and France – all countries that can claim a substantial share of the 291 documented mass shootings between 1966 and 2012 – collectively didn't even come close to the United States.

And what makes the US such a fertile incubator for mass shooters? A comprehensive analysis of the perpetrators, their motives and the national contexts for their actions suggests that several factors have conspired to create a potent medium for fostering large-scale murder.

Those factors include a chronic and widespread gap between Americans' expectations for themselves and their actual achievement, Americans' adulation of fame, and the extent of gun ownership in the country.

http://www.smh.com.au/world/why-the-us-is-no-1-in-mass-shootings-study-20150827-gj9oi8.html