The eve of the celebrations this July 4 in the United States for Independence Day was marked by a series of mass shootings in Philadelphia, Baltimore and Fort Worth, Texas, leaving at least ten people dead. The new acts of gun violence took place as the country commemorates the one-year anniversary of the Highland Park attack near Chicago, which killed seven people, and underscores the country’s gaps in gun control.
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Mass shootings are close to marking a regrettable record in the United States.
In the last 24 hours, the country has suffered a series of armed attacks in cities such as Philadelphia and Baltimore, in the east, and Fort Worth, Texas, in the south, just hours before the holiday on Tuesday, July 4.
in the streets of PhiladelphiaFive people were killed Monday night and two wounded when a suspect in a bulletproof vest opened fire apparently at random. A two-year-old boy and a teenager are among the injured, police confirmed.
The shots took place on several blocks in the Kingsessing neighborhood, in the southwest of the city. Officers responding to the emergency said they pursued the suspect as he continued to fire. The man was arrested, Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said at a news conference.
“Thank God our officers were on the scene and responded as quickly as they did. I can’t even describe the level of bravado and courage they had, as well as the restraint they showed,” Outlaw said.
? A two-year-old has been injured and five people killed after a mass shooter donning tactical gear sprayed bullets onto the streets of Philadelphia on Monday evening https://t.co/PNkeRNlPLP
— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) July 4, 2023
In Fort Worth, Texasthree residents lost their lives and eight were injured in a shooting that occurred after a local festival.
These violent scenes occurred a day after two people were killed and 28 others injured, about half of them children, in a flurry of gunfire at a garden party in a neighborhood of Baltimore.
Authorities are still investigating possible motives behind these armed attacks.
The nation records more than 340 mass shootings so far in 2023, so the Gun Violence Archive organization estimates that the US territory could exceed 679 incidents of this type this year. If this trend continues, the country would reach the second highest annual rate of shootings in the last nine years.
Biden calls for tougher gun control laws
President Joe Biden condemned armed violence and renewed his calls to toughen gun control laws in his country that he has described on several occasions as “lax.”
These latest shootings took place close to the one year anniversary of the mass shooting in Highland Park near Chicago. There, on July 4, 2022, seven people were killed and 48 injured when a 22-year-old man opened fire in the middle of an Independence Day parade.
“This week, our nation has been hit again by a wave of tragic shootings, just as we commemorate one year since the tragedy in Highland Park, Illinois. Jill and I grieve for the people lost, and as our nation celebrates Independence Day, we pray for the day we are freed from gun violence,” the White House leader said.
This week, our nation has again endured a wave of tragic shootings—just as we mark one year since the tragedy in Highland Park, Illinois.
Jill and I grieve for those lost, and as our nation celebrates Independence Day, we pray for the day when we’ll be free from gun violence.
—President Biden (@POTUS) July 4, 2023
Every time there is a mass shooting – defined as an incident in which at least four people are attacked with a firearm – a repeated request makes its way: legislate on gun control. But Democrats and officials in favor of the measure are running up against the same stumbling block: strong resistance from the National Rifle Association and its Republican backers.
The Second Amendment to the Constitution protects “the right to keep and bear arms.” And under this legislation, the United States is one of the countries with fewer limitations to acquire these devices.
With Reuters, AP and local media
