After two gun attacks that killed 18 in California within days, West Coast Governor Gavin Newsom has called for stricter gun laws.
“What the hell is going on here?” Newsom said yesterday (local time) in Half Moon Bay, northern California, with a view to gun violence across the United States. That only happens in America, the country with the highest number of gun owners and gun deaths, the Democrat said.
In Half Moon Bay, a rural community south of San Francisco, a 66-year-old man killed seven people and seriously injured another victim on Monday. Shots were fired at two farms.
The victims are rural workers of Asian and Hispanic origin. The alleged perpetrator, who worked in one of the factories, was arrested.
Newsom was hospitalized Monday morning with injuries from another deadly incident in Monterey Park in Southern California. There, a gunman opened fire at a weekend dance hall on the sidelines of the Chinese New Year celebration.
Ten people died at the scene, and another victim succumbed to his injuries in hospital on Monday. The alleged perpetrator, a 72-year-old man, shot himself after the crime, according to police.
“Senseless act of gun violence”
US Vice President Kamala Harris planned to travel to her home state today and visit the affected community in Monterey Park, her office said last night (local time). After the Half Moon Bay attack, US President Joe Biden spoke of a “senseless act of gun violence”. “The scourge of gun violence across America” calls for stricter gun laws, wrote the Democratic president.
Newsom has long advocated for stricter gun laws. California leads the way compared to other US states, but that’s not enough. Conservative judges would relax stricter laws, Newsom complained. The nation must act united.