More mass shootings in the US than days thus far in 2023: DHS chief

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
21 Apr 2023 21:53

The United States has seen more mass shootings than days in 2023 amid rising gun deaths in the country.

Women pause at a memorial at a vigil honoring the victims of a shooting at the Star Ballroom Dance Studio on January 23, 2023, in Monterey Park, California (AP)

There have been more mass shootings in 2023 in the United States than there have been days, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Friday.

"We have had more mass shootings in this country in 2023 than we have days of the year," Mayorkas said at the Council of Foreign Relations.

More and more people are falling victim to mass shootings throughout the country, the DHS chief revealed.

According to Mayorkas, it is highly important for law enforcement and local communities to cooperate to prevent massacres.

The authorities have to fund and equip communities so they can determine in a timely manner whether a person is planning to take the path of violence, the secretary said.

The US has seen 167 mass shootings this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Only 105 days have passed since the start of 2023.

The number of US children and teens killed by gunfire witnessed a drastic increase between 2019 and 2021, a publication by Pew Research Center revealed.

The number of children and teens killed rose by 50% in a two-year period, and more children were killed in 2021 than in any year since 1999.

While suicide was ruled as the main reason among adult gunfire deaths, accounting for 55% of the incidents, homicide was the largest category for the deaths among those under 18 years old, accounting for 60% of gunfire deaths.

2022 marked the most violent year in schools, with 46 shootings reported, The Washington Post revealed. The most recent shooting took four lives at the Covenant School in Nashville earlier in the month.

Moreover, some racial disparities were reflected as Black children are 5 times more likely to be victims of gun violence than White children. 11.8 deaths were recorded per every 100,000 Black children in the US, while only 2.3 gun deaths per 100,000 were recorded among the white population.

The rise in gun deaths among children and teens is part of a broader recent increase in firearm deaths among Americans overall. In 2021, there were 48,830 gun deaths among Americans of all ages – by far the highest yearly total on record and up 23% from the 39,707 recorded in 2019, before the pandemic.

However, it is still unclear if any real legislative measures will be taken to protect children and the US population on a broader level.