NEW YORK – The weekend marked yet another deadly weekend in the U.S. as gun violence killed and wounded dozens of people across the country. Gun violence continues to be the leading cause of death for children, teenagers, and college-aged people. According to the Gun Violence Archive, at least 130 people were shot and killed this weekend, 128 people were shot and killed last weekend, and 155 people were shot and killed the weekend before that during Memorial Day Weekend.
A snapshot of the weekend’s gun violence:
- In Syracuse, New York, four people were shot and wounded, alongside other injuries, when chaos broke out among hundreds of people gathered early Sunday morning, according to police.
- In Texas, one person was killed and several more were wounded Sunday during a shooting in the Crosby area and at least six people, one of them critically, were shot and wounded in a parking lot outside a Houston club, early Sunday.
- In California, nine people were wounded in a shooting in San Francisco’s Mission District on Friday night, a 16-year-old high school basketball star was shot and killed in South Los Angeles over the weekend, and one person was killed and six others were wounded at a birthday party for a 19 year old in Antioch early Sunday morning.
- In Colorado, footage was released of a shooting from earlier this month where Jor’Dell Richardson, a 14-year-old in Aurora, was shot and killed by a police officer.
- In Maryland, three people were shot and killed and three people were wounded in a shooting Sunday night at a house in Annapolis.
“A horrifically typical weekend in America: gun violence continues to rock our communities, tear apart families, and destroy our sense of safety,” said Angela Ferrell-Zabala, Executive Director of Moms Demand Action. “More guns in more places are leading to more senseless and preventable bloodshed. We don’t have to live like this and we will not stop fighting for urgent solutions to save lives.”
To save lives, lawmakers at every level must take meaningful action to prevent access to guns by those who are a danger to themselves or others, invest in community-based violence intervention programs that do life-saving work in the nation’s hardest hit communities, and reject any efforts to pass gun lobby bills to weaken gun laws.
As several state legislatures continue their state legislative sessions, lawmakers have the opportunity to pass life-saving gun safety laws. California is currently advancing a bill to strengthen California’s gun safety laws after they were threatened by the Supreme Court’s ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen. Tennessee is preparing for a special session during which they should work to pass an Extreme Risk law. Delaware is considering legislation that would require individuals to have a permit prior to purchasing a gun.
