In the first 23 days of 2023 alone, US reported 36 incidents of mass shootings

The recent shooting in California’s Los Angeles where a gunman opened fire at a Chinese New Year dance event, leaving 10 dead, is raising questions about the severity of gun violence in the US.

The shooting, though regarded as the deadliest in the country since the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas last year, is not nearly the first shooting of the year for the nation.

From the start of this year alone, at least 36 mass shootings have been reported in the US according to media reports. The statistics would indicate that there have been more shootings than there have been days in the US this year.

Less than 48 hours after the Los Angeles shooting, three more shootings in northern California and Iowa were reported, leaving another 9 dead, according to media outlets.

Two of the shootings reportedly occurred in farms at Half Moon Bay, near San Francisco, taking the lives of seven. The third shooting was reported in Des Moines in Iowa, which took the lives of two students and injured three others at Starts Right Here, an educational mentorship programme for at-risk youths.

In Cleveland, Three people were killed and two others were critically wounded after a shooting at a residence on January 14.

In Virginia on January 7, a  six-year-old boy caught hold of a gun and shot at a teacher, who was severely injured.

In Los Angeles on January 6, a man shot his entire family of seven before shooting himself after his wife filed for divorce from him.