US Has Reported 36 Mass Shootings In First 23 Days Of This Year

In a recent case of mass shooting in the United States, a gunman killed 10 people and injured 10 more at a California dance venue during the Lunar New Year celebration on Sunday. Witnesses said Huu Can Tran, 72, shot indiscriminately at people with a semiautomatic weapon, and later died from suicide after his vehicle was surrounded by cops. 

The shooting was the deadliest in the US since a shooter in Uvalde, Texas killed 22 people at an elementary school last year on May 24. Gun violence is a major issue in the US, and incidents of gun violence occur frequently across the country. 

Just this year, there have been at least 36 mass shootings in the country in just 23 days, according to the nonprofit organization Gun Violence Archive, as accessed by CNN. The shocking statistic means there have been more mass shootings in the US this year than there have been days in 2023. 

Here are some recent incidents:

California shooting: A gunman killed six people in Tulare County, California, including a 16-year-old and her 10-month-old on January 16. Sheriff Mike Boudreaux of the Tulare County Sheriff's Office described it as a grisly crime, a "targeted" attack that he said may be linked to gang and drug violence. 

Houston shooting: One person was killed and four others were wounded when a carload of armed assailants unleashed a barrage of more than 50 shots on January 15 outside a Houston club, as per ABC News. 

Cleveland home shooting: Three people were killed and two others were critically wounded in a shooting at a Cleveland home, on January 14. 

Virginia shooting: A six-year-old boy opened fire in an elementary school classroom in the eastern US state of Virginia on Friday, seriously injuring a teacher on January 7. 

Los Angeles shooting: A man shot and killed his family of seven, including five children, then turned the gun on himself after his wife filed for divorce, on January 6. 

The shooting also follows several numerous crimes from last year, including Walmart in Chesapeake, Virginia, at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, shooting on a school bus allegedly targeting members of the University of Virginia football team, to name a few, according to New York Post. 

As per a report from Everytown Research & Policy, the gun homicide rate in the US is up to 26 times that of other high-income countries, and the gun suicide rate is nearly 12 times higher. 

The country experienced 648 mass shootings and 44,000 gun-related deaths last year, illustrating the severity of the issue with guns, according to the Gun Violence Archive website.  

The year before that was no better. About 49,000 people died from gunshot wounds in 2021, more than half of which were suicides, as per AFP. The country has more weapons than people: one in three adults owns at least one weapon and nearly one in two adults lives in a home where there is a weapon.