Mass shootings may be more common, but overall gun violence is way down from the 1990s

Following the mass shootings on Wednesday in Savannah and San Bernardino, many have highlighted the frequency with which these tragic attacks occur. By The New York Times' calculation, America averages one mass shooting a day, while FiveThirtyEight reviews data from several sources to conclude that mass shootings are probably more common than they used to be.

But, as FiveThirtyEight notes, overall gun homicides have significantly "declined from a decade ago, as has the overall murder rate." These charts from Pew Research make obvious the dramatic decrease in gun violence America has experienced since the 1990s:

Though Americans are safer from gun violence than they were 20 years ago, perception doesn't match reality. "Despite these trends, most U.S. adults think gun crimes have increased," Pew reports, adding that a 2013 survey found "more than half (56 percent) of Americans said the number of gun crimes had gone up compared with 20 years ago."

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Some criminologists have suggested that increased media coverage, more than actual crime statistics, may also be responsible for an erroneous perception that mass shootings are on the rise.