Mark Kaplan, professor emeritus of social welfare at UCLA Luskin, joined Spectrum News 1 to discuss the recent mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, the deadliest mass shooting this year in the United States. Putting the tragedy into a larger context, Kaplan noted that in 2023 there have already been more than 600 mass shootings across the nation, “and we’re not even done with the year yet.” That number is more than double the approximately 300 mass shootings from just five years ago, he said. Kaplan also discussed the national assault weapon ban, which was allowed to expire in 2004, citing a significant decrease in mass shootings during the decade the ban was in effect. “My research shows that the more guns, the greater the risk of these incidents occurring,” Kaplan said. “There’s empirical evidence that standardizing a federal ban on assault weapons could go a long way in reducing the mayhem, the carnage.”