WASHINGTON, D.C. (KERO) — With so much gun violence already this year some lawmakers in Washington, D.C. are calling for action. President Joe Biden issued a statement on Monday calling on Congress to pass a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines and legislation that raises the minimum purchasing age to 21 years old.
The Gun Violence Archive defines a mass shooting as an incident where at least four people, not including the suspect, are shot.
According to the Archive, there's been more than three-dozen mass shootings in the United States since the start of the year.
- RELATED STORY: 7 dead as California mourns 3rd mass killing in 8 days
In 2020 the murder rate with handguns was the highest it has been in the U.S. in 25 years.
According to CDC data between 2019 and 2020 firearm homicides increased by 35 percent and among children and young adults there was a 38 percent increase in firearm-related murders from 2019-2020.
- RELATED STORY: Death toll in Monterey Park mass shooting rises to 11
23ABC IN-DEPTH
The American Academy of Pediatrics is urging lawmakers to advance the following policies.
First, enact universal background check legislation to ensure that those who are most likely to perpetrate gun violence cannot purchase guns.
Second, enact comprehensive extreme risk protection orders legislation which allows family members or law enforcement to petition a judge to temporarily remove firearms from a person deemed at risk of harming themselves or others.
Finally, fund gun violence prevention research at $60 million, with $35 million for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and $25 million for the National Institutes of Health.
