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Aren't Guns Wonderful! US On Track To Set Record In 2023 For Mass Killings After Series Of Shootings
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Gerald
May 9, 2023, 8:34:28 AM5/9/23
to
US on track to set record in 2023 for mass killings after series of
shootings
Country is seeing an average of more than one mass killing weekly – amid
little political prospect of meaningful gun control
Erum Salam
Tue 9 May 2023 07.00 BST
Last modified on Tue 9 May 2023 07.31 BST
After a series of shootings and other attacks, 2023 is on track to be the
worst in recent history for mass killings in the US.
Mass killings are defined as incidents in which four or more people are
killed, not including the shooter or other type of perpetrator. According
to data from the Gun Violence Archive, the US is on pace for 60 mass
killings this year. There were 31 in 2019, 21 in 2020, 28 in 2021 and 36
in 2022.
The US is seeing on average more than one mass killing weekly.
As of 7 May 2023, there had been 202 mass shootings – defined by the
archive as involving at least four people killed or injured by firearms,
excluding the shooter – since the beginning of the year.
The incidents have spanned the country, from Chicago to Mississippi and
Tennessee to Texas. They have occurred at shopping malls, schools and
parties and in countless neighborhoods.
They have also sparked a bout of soul-searching in a country where scores
of millions of guns are in public hands and there is little political
prospect of meaningful gun control of the type common in many other
countries.
Yet another mass shooting took place in Allen, Texas, on Saturday, leaving
eight dead. The gunman was also killed. The shooter opened fire at a
shopping mall, spraying bullets before being killed by a police officer.
On Sunday, Texas saw a mass killing: a driver plowed his truck into a
crowd at a bus stop near a shelter serving migrants in the southern city
of Brownsville, killing eight.
Mass shootings have attracted the most attention in the US and overseas.
No other industrialised country outside war and conflict zones experiences
such habitual gun violence in civic life.
In Texas, gun laws were repeatedly loosened after mass shootings. It has
had 41 mass shootings so far in 2023. It has not even been one year since
19 children and two teachers were killed in a shooting at Robb elementary
school in Uvalde, the deadliest shooting in the state and the third-
deadliest school shooting in the US.
At more than 1m, Texas is also the state with the most registered guns.
State lawmakers voiced their outrage at the latest tragedy.
A Democratic state senator senator, Roland Gutierrez, said: “Texas
lawmakers need to have the political courage to get something done about
gun violence. It is sad that this has become our everyday reality. Thanks
to the Republican regime that has led Texas for the last 30 years, gun
laws are looser than ever.”
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Sheila Jackson Lee represents Texas’s 18th district, which largely covers
Houston, in Congress. She said: “I’m just so tired and hurt and devastated
by the continuing mass shootings in this state and in this nation … Eight
innocent people are dead – dead by gunfire. Guns again.
“Of course, I offer my prayers and concerns for those families who are
struggling with the loss of their loved ones. But I also ask the question:
‘When are we going to confront the real cause?’ And that is a
proliferation of guns, guns, guns.”
Joe Biden has said Republicans should back his calls for more gun control
measures.
After the shooting last year in Uvalde, Biden oversaw a bipartisan gun
control bill that enacted some modest proposals. But as the waves of
shootings have intensified, he has pleaded with Congress to enact tougher
measures such as banning assault weapons. There has been little sign of
that plea being taken up.
That pattern repeated itself after the Allen shooting.
“Such an attack is too shocking to be so familiar,” Biden said on Sunday.
“Once again I ask Congress to send me a bill banning assault weapons and
high-capacity magazines. Enacting universal background checks. Requiring
safe storage. Ending immunity for gun manufacturers. I will sign it
immediately. We need nothing less to keep our streets safe.”
shootings
Country is seeing an average of more than one mass killing weekly – amid
little political prospect of meaningful gun control
Erum Salam
Tue 9 May 2023 07.00 BST
Last modified on Tue 9 May 2023 07.31 BST
After a series of shootings and other attacks, 2023 is on track to be the
worst in recent history for mass killings in the US.
Mass killings are defined as incidents in which four or more people are
killed, not including the shooter or other type of perpetrator. According
to data from the Gun Violence Archive, the US is on pace for 60 mass
killings this year. There were 31 in 2019, 21 in 2020, 28 in 2021 and 36
in 2022.
The US is seeing on average more than one mass killing weekly.
As of 7 May 2023, there had been 202 mass shootings – defined by the
archive as involving at least four people killed or injured by firearms,
excluding the shooter – since the beginning of the year.
The incidents have spanned the country, from Chicago to Mississippi and
Tennessee to Texas. They have occurred at shopping malls, schools and
parties and in countless neighborhoods.
They have also sparked a bout of soul-searching in a country where scores
of millions of guns are in public hands and there is little political
prospect of meaningful gun control of the type common in many other
countries.
Yet another mass shooting took place in Allen, Texas, on Saturday, leaving
eight dead. The gunman was also killed. The shooter opened fire at a
shopping mall, spraying bullets before being killed by a police officer.
On Sunday, Texas saw a mass killing: a driver plowed his truck into a
crowd at a bus stop near a shelter serving migrants in the southern city
of Brownsville, killing eight.
Mass shootings have attracted the most attention in the US and overseas.
No other industrialised country outside war and conflict zones experiences
such habitual gun violence in civic life.
In Texas, gun laws were repeatedly loosened after mass shootings. It has
had 41 mass shootings so far in 2023. It has not even been one year since
19 children and two teachers were killed in a shooting at Robb elementary
school in Uvalde, the deadliest shooting in the state and the third-
deadliest school shooting in the US.
At more than 1m, Texas is also the state with the most registered guns.
State lawmakers voiced their outrage at the latest tragedy.
A Democratic state senator senator, Roland Gutierrez, said: “Texas
lawmakers need to have the political courage to get something done about
gun violence. It is sad that this has become our everyday reality. Thanks
to the Republican regime that has led Texas for the last 30 years, gun
laws are looser than ever.”
skip past newsletter promotion
Sign up to First Thing
Free daily newsletter
Start the day with the top stories from the US, plus the day’s must-reads
from across the Guardian
Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads,
and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our
Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the
Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
after newsletter promotion
Sheila Jackson Lee represents Texas’s 18th district, which largely covers
Houston, in Congress. She said: “I’m just so tired and hurt and devastated
by the continuing mass shootings in this state and in this nation … Eight
innocent people are dead – dead by gunfire. Guns again.
“Of course, I offer my prayers and concerns for those families who are
struggling with the loss of their loved ones. But I also ask the question:
‘When are we going to confront the real cause?’ And that is a
proliferation of guns, guns, guns.”
Joe Biden has said Republicans should back his calls for more gun control
measures.
After the shooting last year in Uvalde, Biden oversaw a bipartisan gun
control bill that enacted some modest proposals. But as the waves of
shootings have intensified, he has pleaded with Congress to enact tougher
measures such as banning assault weapons. There has been little sign of
that plea being taken up.
That pattern repeated itself after the Allen shooting.
“Such an attack is too shocking to be so familiar,” Biden said on Sunday.
“Once again I ask Congress to send me a bill banning assault weapons and
high-capacity magazines. Enacting universal background checks. Requiring
safe storage. Ending immunity for gun manufacturers. I will sign it
immediately. We need nothing less to keep our streets safe.”
Poster
May 9, 2023, 9:33:57 AM5/9/23
to
>That's the problem... you insist on blaming the means used rather than
>looking at the people and asking why these people aren't locked away
>somewhere. In almost all cases,
It's a fact. Countries all over the world with a fraction of the mass
killings the USA has (including our neighbor Canada) are coincidentally
countries where there are no mental health issues, immigrants or non-white
Christians.
It has nothing to do with their sensible gun laws, just the fact that they
are superior societies to the USA and are without crazy people who only
want to shoot Americans in malls, schools and theaters using military
grade firearms.
And since Texas ranks 50th out of 50 in mental health spending per capita,
there aint no money for it so Abbott allows everybody to have a gun and go
crazy because it's cheaper and won't stand in the way of tax cuts for the
rich.
The NRA is right again. Send them money so they can afford more
bodyguards.
>looking at the people and asking why these people aren't locked away
>somewhere. In almost all cases,
It's a fact. Countries all over the world with a fraction of the mass
killings the USA has (including our neighbor Canada) are coincidentally
countries where there are no mental health issues, immigrants or non-white
Christians.
It has nothing to do with their sensible gun laws, just the fact that they
are superior societies to the USA and are without crazy people who only
want to shoot Americans in malls, schools and theaters using military
grade firearms.
And since Texas ranks 50th out of 50 in mental health spending per capita,
there aint no money for it so Abbott allows everybody to have a gun and go
crazy because it's cheaper and won't stand in the way of tax cuts for the
rich.
The NRA is right again. Send them money so they can afford more
bodyguards.
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