Following Tuesday's mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, at least eight more mass shootings occurred across the United States over the weekend, amid the divergence among government officials on how to curb gun violence.
Gun Violence Archive, an independent organization that collects data from over 7,500 sources, recorded the following shooting incidents that happened on the weekend after the massacre at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde that killed 19 children and two teachers, as reported by NPR.
Saturday, May 28
Three teens were injured, and one man died in a shooting in Fresno, according to ABC30 in California. The 20-something man perished due to injuries.
Six people have been shot a block away from the Tennessee Aquarium downtown in Chattanooga, Tennessee, as reported by Local 3 News and CNN. Two of the six victims ended up in critical condition. The victims were in their early 20s.
According to KKTV11 News in Colorado Springs, Colorado, police are investigating a shooting in a bar parking lot that killed one guy and injured three women. The shots appeared to originate from a moving car, according to witnesses.
Shots were fired at a home party in Malabar, Fla., on Saturday night, injuring four people aged 15 to 18, according to 1010 News.
Sunday, May 29
Five people were still in critical condition in Illinois when they got shot in Chicago's West Garfield Park. According to Fox 32, the victims are between 16 to 33 years of age.
A 26-year-old male was arrested in Taft, Oklahoma, in connection with a shooting at a crowded Memorial Day fair that killed one 39-year-old lady and injured seven others. According to Fox23 News, the surviving victims range in age from 9 to 56 and have non-life-threatening wounds.
Around 3:40 a.m., police in Detroit reported to WWJ News Radio that a group of three men and two women came under fire. According to the report, two of the guys who were struck are in stable condition, while the third is in serious condition. Per NPR, the women were not shot, but they did get minor injuries from broken glass.
The Merced Sun-Star in California reported Sunday morning that four people, two youths and two adults, were shot sometime after midnight Sunday. One of the victims was killed, one was in critical condition, and two were treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
Democratic Governors Push Stricter Gun Policies
Meanwhile, as the country grieves the victims of the recent school massacre, Democratic governors call for tighter gun restrictions, while several Republican governors suggest heightened school security.
According to a published report on US News, the Associated Press asked governors across the US: "Should people younger than 21 be prohibited from buying semi-automatic guns? Should ammunition magazines be limited to no more than ten bullets?"
Many Democratic governors answered "yes," including Gov. Ned Lamont of Connecticut, where an attack at Sandy Hook Elementary School killed 20 students and 6 adults ten years ago.
"If you're not serious about guns, you're not serious about crime prevention. I think that's more true today than ever before," he said.
Republicans Are Divided on Gun Control
Republican governors, however, were more inclined to campaign for improved security at schools in the country, which might include additional security personnel, installation of metal detectors and fencing, and arming teachers.
During a speech Friday to the National Rifle Association convention in Houston, Republican Gov. Kristi Noem of South Dakota called for enhanced school security measures and denounced proposals for gun control, calling them "garbage."
Noem said: "Why do we protect our banks, our stores, and celebrities with armed guards but not our children? Are they not truly our greatest treasure?"
But Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), a Republican who is departing Congress at the end of this term, stated he would support a ban on assault weapons and raising the minimum age to possess a firearm to 21, per The Hill.
"I have opposed a ban fairly recently, I think I'm open to a ban now," Kinzinger said in a CNN program.
In an interview on ABC's "This Week, the Republican legislator called himself a "strong defender of the Second Amendment" however, he was "getting sick" of the news of mass shootings across the country.
