On the same weekend that back-to-back mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton killed 31 people, more than 50 people were shot in various incidents in Chicago.
In fact, according to federal statistics, gun violence in America takes the lives of 100 people and injures 210 more every single day. The only way to stop this epidemic is to enact stronger gun laws.
Currently, one in five guns are sold without a background check. For example, some websites make it possible for individual buyers and sellers to connect, and sales like that can legally happen without a background check. A federal law requiring expanded background checks for gun sales would help stop this. Polls show that more than 90 percent of Americans—including gun owners—support expanded background checks.
Many mass shootings are carried out with assault-style weapons capable of inflicting widespread damage. According to a recent Quinnipiac poll, two-thirds of Americans support a ban on assault weapons, similar to the one that was in place from 1994 to 2004, and we should pass one. We also need a ban on high-capacity magazines, which allow shooters to fire more bullets without reloading. And so-called “extreme risk” laws, which allow the removal of firearms from individuals who show signs they might harm themselves or others, would also help reduce gun deaths.