Foreign media: This year may be the most severe year for large-scale killings in the Chengmei region | Shooting | Incident
The Times website reported on July 3rd that the gun violence that occurred in the United States over the past weekend is a serious reminder that this year will be the most severe year of large-scale killings in the country's modern history.
On the early morning of the 2nd, shooting incidents occurred in Baltimore, Maryland and Wichita, Kansas, respectively. The former caused 2 deaths and 28 injuries, while the latter caused 7 injuries. Additionally, 2 people were taken to the hospital due to being trampled on while fleeing.
According to reports, as the United States prepares to celebrate Independence Day on the 4th, politicians are working hard to address the country's gun issue.
There is no official standard to define a "mass killing incident," but the definition of the Gun Violence Archive website is an event where at least four people, apart from the perpetrator, are shot dead or injured.
According to the agency's data, there have been 25 large-scale killings this year, which means 2023 will exceed the record of 36 in 2022. Data shows that there were 31 large-scale killings in 2019, 21 in 2020, and 28 in 2021.
According to Reuters, as of the 3rd of this month, there have been 340 large-scale shooting incidents across the United States this year. According to data from the Gun Violence Archive website, based on this frequency of occurrence, there will be 679 large-scale shooting incidents in the United States in 2023, about twice the frequency of 2018.
Data shows that this year will also be the second year with the highest number of large-scale shooting incidents since 2014, only behind 690 in 2021.
According to reports, gun ownership is very common in the United States, which is a controversial political issue. After particularly shocking shooting incidents, such as the one that occurred in Baltimore last weekend, the debate about gun ownership usually intensifies.
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said in an interview program broadcasted on CNN on the 3rd, "Due to the lack of action taken at the national level to address this issue, we are still dealing with large-scale shooting incidents. This can no longer be an issue that local police, locally elected officials, or state governments are responsible for handling."