The relentless use of firearms and the killing of innocent people across the US has established a somber new record for the deadliest six months of mass killings since at least 2006.
According to a database maintained by The Associated Press (AP) and USA Today national newspaper in collaboration with Northeastern University, which has tracked this massive violence since 2006, the United States experienced a whopping 28 mass killings in the first six months of this year, all but one of which involved guns, leaving 140 people dead and hundreds injured in a never-ending cycle of violence.
Fox continued, “We used to say there were two to three dozen a year. “The fact that there have been 28 in half a year is a startling statistic.”
read more: US: Second mass shooting within 48hrs, kills 4 in Philadelphia
In the US, a mass killing is defined as when four or more people—not counting the attacker—are killed within a 24-hour period.
Local experts like Fox attribute the rise in gun violence and carnage across the US to a growing population with more guns, but they also point out that mass killings make up a small portion of all firearms-related incidents in the nation.
The AR-15 rifle, which is made to kill people quickly and in great numbers, was used in at least four mass murders during the first half of 2023, according to the database.
According to the report, 27 out of 28 mass killings that occurred in the first half of this year involved guns. The other involved a fire that claimed the lives of four people in a Monroe, Louisiana, home. In relation to the deaths on March 31, a 37-year-old man was detained on murder and arson charges.
Billy McLaughlin, a spokesman for the NRA, was quoted in the article as saying, “Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ constant attempts to gut the Second Amendment will not usher in safety for Americans; instead, it will only embolden criminals.” “That is why the NRA keeps up the fight for laws allowing for self-defense. As long as law-abiding Americans have the right to self-defense, we will never bow, never retreat, and never apologize for that.”
Following the recent mass shooting at an elementary Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee’s southeast, some of the state’s fervently pro-gun Republican lawmakers have called for the passage of a nebulous piece of legislation that would purportedly keep firearms away from “people that could harm themselves and others.”
The article claims that Republican Gov. Bill Lee urged the General Assembly to pass so-called red flag laws, which prohibit giving firearms to people who could harm themselves or others, in the wake of the Nashville school shooting, despite the fact that Lee claims the term is divisive.
According to the report, it will be difficult to pass such a law in Tennessee. It also noted that the Republican-led Legislature adjourned earlier this year without passing any legislation relating to gun control, which prompted Lee to call a special session for August.
