This one's a little different, because it covers incidents in and around my old home town of The Hague, in the Netherlands. These are for this year alone, and are collected from the website district8.net. Note that these are only incidents in which a weapon was discharged. Format is date, city/town and between parentheses the street.
01-Mar-2009, Rotterdam (Herman Bavinckstraat): at least six shots fired, one wounded, one of several suspects arrested (
http://district8.net/gewonde-bij-schietpartij-in-de-herman-bavinckstraat.html)
02-Mar-2009, Delft (Dakarhof): multiple shots fired, one wounded, two suspects arrested (
http://district8.net/schietpartij-met-gewonde-dakarhof.html).
05-Mar-2009, Delft (Dakarhof): multiple shots fired, no known casualties, SWAT team deployed, seven suspects arrested (
http://district8.net/arrestatieteam-ingezet-na-schietpartij-dakarhof.html#more-4014)
05-Mar-2009, The Hague (Oltmansstraat): multiple shots fired, one wounded, five suspects arrested (
http://district8.net/politieberichten-6-maart-2009.html#more-5051)
18-Mar-2009, Rotterdam (Vierambachtstraat): multiple shots fired, one wounded, one suspect arrested (
http://district8.net/schietpartij-vierambachtstraat.html#more-5266)
22-Mar-2009, The Hague (Harlekijneendstraat): multiple shots fired, one wounded, two suspects arrested (
http://district8.net/schietpartij-met-gewonde-harlekijneendstraat.html#more-5346)
02-Apr-2009, The Hague (Weimarstraat): multiple shots fired, one Albanian wounded, three other Albanians brought in for questioning (
http://district8.net/schietpartij-cafe-weimarstraat.html)
11-Apr-2009, Rotterdam (Poolsterplein): man opens fire in bar (apparently at random), then continues shooting outside, one dead, three wounded, shooter arrested (
http://district8.net/dode-bij-schietpartij-in-rotterdams-cafe-poolsterplein.html#more-5870)
10-May-2009, Delft (Westvest): shooting incident, one wounded, one suspect arrested (
http://district8.net/schietpartij-met-gewonde-westvest.html#more-6811)
10-May-2009, The Hague (Visafslagweg): two men on a scooter open fire on a car, one occupant wounded (
http://district8.net/schietincident-visafslagweg.html)
15-May-2009, The Hague (Jan Luykenlaan): shots fired, no apparent casualties, no suspects (
http://district8.net/schietincident-moerweg.html)
22-May-2009, Zoetermeer (Stephensonstraat): multiple shots fired at a car, no casualties or arrests reported; police suspect domestic incident (
http://district8.net/politie-onderzoekt-schietincident-stephensonstraat.html#more-7277)
11-Jun-2009, Zoetermeer (Ruimtebaan): convoluted story involving a fight between a teenage boy and girl, the girl's brother threatening the boy with a handgun, and somebody else taking a shot at the girl's family; no casualties (
http://district8.net/schietincident-ruimtebaan.html#more-8086)
15-Jun-2009, Delft (Chopinlaan): man (allegedly strung out on drugs) opens fire on the street with a repeating shotgun, three wounded, shooter arrested (
http://district8.net/man-schiet-op-omstanders-chopinlaan.html#more-8280)
30-Jun-2009, Hoogvliet (Texasweg): man shot multiple times by his car and killed, one suspect arrested (
http://district8.net/man-doodgeschoten-texasweg-hoogvliet.html#more-8871)
15-Jul-2009, The Hague (Abraham van Beyerenstraat): argument in street culminates in one guy pulling a gun and firing one shot, no casualties (
http://district8.net/schietincident-abraham-van-beyerenstraat-den-haag.html)
22-Aug-2009, Hoek van Holland (beach): at the Sunset Grooves beach festival, several fights break out between supporters of rival soccer teams; when gunfire breaks out on the crowd, police respond; police gunfire kills one man and wounds two more, four more people suffer GSWs of as yet unknown origin (
http://district8.net/schoten-gelost-op-dancefeest-hoek-van-holland.html http://www.nos.nl/nosjournaal/artikelen/2009/9/3/030909_hoekvanholland_kogel.html)
06-Sep-2009, The Hague (Boekhorststraat): an incident of an yet undisclosed nature occurred in a house which reportedly contained an illicit cannabis-growing facility, in which at least one shot was fired; police were alerted when they saw three suspects fleeing the scene (
http://district8.net/incident-boekhorststraat-den-haag.html)
I can't say with any certainty that this list is exhaustive. Even so, we have eighteen incidents involving unlawful discharges of firearms over a period of slightly over seven months, in an area about the size of greater Boston (inside the 128 beltway). And while this number of incidents might not be remarkable in a major American city, the key here is that these incidents took place in a country where it has been extremely difficult to legally own a firearm for ninety years. Moreover, the likelihood that any of these incidents involved a legally owned firearm is just about zero.
So in a country with tight gun control laws, surrounded by countries with comparably restrictive gun laws, how can all these incidents happen?