Kentucky is the latest state in America to be rocked by gun violence, with the mass shooting inside a Louisville bank marking the 146th anniversary in 2023.
Monday morning the United States reached a grim milestone, already beyond previous years – in the aftermath of the deadly shooting that left five dead, including the gunman, and 8 wounded at the Old National Bank.
Last year, the United States saw 130 mass shootings as of April 10, 2022. The number later rose to 646 by the end of the year, according to the Gun Violence Archive — a nonprofit organization that collects statistics on shootings in the United States.
Around the same time in previous years, the numbers were slightly lower, including 137 in 2021 and 87 in 2020. Each year’s totals eventually rose to between 610 and 690.
The Louisville shooting occurred just hours north of Covenant School in Nashville on March 27, killing six people, including three nine-year-olds. The Gun Violence Archive defines a mass shooting as an incident in which at least four people were injured by a firearm.
Monday morning’s Kentucky mass shooting marked the 146th mass shooting in 2023. The graph above shows the number of mass shootings through April 10 in previous years on the left. On the right is the total number for each year
Blood was seen on the steps outside the Old National Bank in Louisville on Monday morning
The Nashville shooting, the 129th mass shooting this year, is one of only five mass shootings in history in which a gunman has been involved.
The rare attacks first occurred in 1979 with a teenage girl who said she was killed because she “didn’t like Mondays.”
So far this year, California, Texas and Florida have recorded 13 mass shootings, Louisiana has recorded 12, and Illinois and Tennessee have had eight, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
Authorities have not identified the Louisville bank gunman or his motives.
Initially, five people were killed and six injured until late Monday morning when authorities declared nine people in critical condition.
Among the injured was one of the two officers who were shot and killed during an exchange of fire with the alleged shooter.
Among the dead was the gunman. It remains unclear if the suspect died from the officers’ gunfire or from injuries.
The fatal incident, which began around 8:30 a.m. when a man with a ‘long assault rifle’ fired several shots near the conference room, a bank employee said, said an unidentified employee. what.
“He just started shooting,” said the unnamed employee. I did not see his face. We were in the conference room.
He added, “Whoever was next to me was hit with their blood on me.”
Another witness said they heard several gunshots as well as broken glass coming from the bank on Monday morning.
The deadliest mass shooting of the year was in Monterey Park, California, on January 21 – killing 11 people before the gunman committed suicide during a confrontation with police.
The incident at the Star Ballroom Studio Huu Can Tran, 72, previously studied before being expelled during the Lunar New Year celebrations.
People are pictured cuddling after the mass shooting at the Old National Bank
Pictures from the scene show a broken row at the Old National Bank after the shooting
ATF officers were seen with a stretcher outside the Old National Bank on Monday
| state | The number of mass shootings |
|---|---|
| Alabama Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Capital fl Georgia Illinois Indiana Louisiana Maryland Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri New Jersey New York North Carolina Ohio Oregon Pennsylvania South Carolina Tennessee Texas Utah Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin |
2 2 3 13 3 1 13 4 8 1 11 4 2 4 3 3 3 5 7 5 1 7 3 8 13 1 112 |
Eight people were killed during a January 4 shooting in Cedar City, Utah, in which Michael Height killed his wife, their five children, and his mother-in-law before turning the gun on himself.
There are about 120 guns for every 100 Americans, according to the Switzerland-based Small Arms Survey.
No other country has more civilian guns than people, with about 44 percent of adults in the United States living in a home with a gun.
About a third of them own one personally, according to a November 2020 Gallup poll. A third of American adults think there would be less crime if more people owned guns.
However, several studies show that where people have easy access to firearms, gun-related deaths are more frequent – including suicide, homicide, and unintentional injuries.
Mass shootings also drive a demand for more guns, as many Americans feel “safer” if they own a gun personally.
The rate of gun violence is eight times higher than in Canada, which has the seventh highest rate of gun ownership in the world.
Figures from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation data from 2019 show that the firearms fatality rate in the United States is 22 times higher than the European Union and 23 times greater than Australia.
Debates about gun violence and the Second Amendment are always close to the heart of US politics, with President Joe Biden constantly complaining about Congress’ inability to pass ‘common sense’ measures after multiple mass shootings this year.
The president made an emotional plea for tougher gun laws as he signed an executive order to increase the number of background checks after the deadliest shooting of the year in California.
He said: Weapon ban. Ban them again. Do it now. Adequate. Do something. Do something big.
His order would increase the number of background checks for gun purchases, promote better and safer firearm storage, and ensure US law enforcement agencies get the most out of a bipartisan gun control law enacted last summer.
But many Republicans, who currently control the House of Representatives, blame the “mental health crisis” in the United States on the problem of gun violence.
