Facts about 'routine' mass shootings in the US

President Barack Obama has voiced anger and sadness over "routine" mass shootings in the United States after 10 people were killed in an attack at a community college in Oregon.

Here are key statistics on shootings in America:

It was the 15th time the president has pleaded for gun control legislation since taking office in 2009. One key time was after a 2012 massacre that killed 20 children and six adults in Newtown.

So far this year, there have been 296 shootings in 274 days, according to the website Shootingtracker, which tracks attacks.

Harvard University research published in October 2014 on Mother Jones found that the rate of mass shootings -- defined as the murder of four or more people in a public place, by an assailant unknown to the victims -- had tripled, occurring on average every 64 days.

There have been 142 shootings in American schools since the Newtown tragedy in December 2012, an average of nearly one a week.

There are 270 million firearms in circulation, making the United States the developed country with the highest rate of gun ownership per person -- nearly 89 weapons for every 100 people.

The United States also has the highest rate of gun homicides of the developed world -- 29.7 per year per million people, according to UN data.

In 2013, there were 11,208 firearm homicides and 21,175 suicides recorded, according to the center for disease control.

An overwhelming majority of Americans -- 85 percent -- favor stricter background checks for gun purchases and 57 percent a ban on assault-style weapons, the Pew Research Center found in August.

Source: AFP