Gun control and gun rights issues took center stage this spring, after a spate of mass shootings in the United States, including at spas, a supermarket and a FedEx facility. President Biden announced executive actions to help address the problem and called on Congress to enact legislation. Biden also instructed the Department of Justice to draft a model “red flag” law, which allows guns to be taken away from someone considered a threat, and Democrats in Congress are calling for reinstating the ban on assault weapons. But most Republicans oppose any gun control measures. In addition, the U.S. Supreme Court, which now has a conservative majority, has agreed for the first time in more than a decade to hear a major gun rights case.
 Christina Gonzalez (right) and Alyssa Rubino mourn the death of their cousin, Michael Joseph Rudometkin, one of eight people allegedly murdered by a disgruntled coworker at a San Jose, Calif., rail yard on May 26. It was one of more than 230 mass shootings this year. (AFP/Getty Images/Amy Osborne) |
Nearly every day this spring seemed to bring a report of a new mass shooting, spurring President Biden to issue executive actions to try to tackle gun violence and to urge Congress to act. 1 Two gun-control measures passed by the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives stalled in the Senate, and the Supreme Court agreed to hear a major gun control case for the first time since 2008.
Among the mass shootings that rocked the nation recently were:
