Reeling Americans brace for next mass shooting
NEARLY half of all Americans expect another mass shooting will happen soon in the US, according to a Reuters/Ipsos public opinion poll released on Friday, as the nation reels from rampages in California, Texas and Ohio.
The August 7-8 survey found that 78% of Americans said it was likely that such an attack would take place in the next three months; of these, 49% said one was “highly likely”.
Another 10% said a mass shooting was unlikely in three months and the rest said they did not know.
The poll was conducted after two mass shootings earlier this month in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, and a third in Gilroy, California, last month, that left 36 people dead. The attacks have rattled the country and renewed calls for tougher gun laws.
“You’re on guard because you never know when it’s going to happen and where,” said Suzanne Fink, 59, a Republican from Troutman, North Carolina. “It’s been happening much too often and it’s like a copycat effect.”
There is no set definition of a mass shooting, but the non-profit organisation Gun Violence Archive has tallied more than 250 such incidents so far this year alone – for an average of more than one a day – a widely cited figure that counts events in which four or more people were either shot and killed or shot and wounded.
Following the mass shootings in Texas and Ohio, Democrats, including several 2020 presidential candidates, criticised Republican President Donald Trump for rhetoric they labelled as racist and hard-line immigration polices, saying they stoked violence.
Former Texas congressman and presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke called the shooting in El Paso “an act of terror inspired by your racism” in response to a tweet by Trump.
The president has expressed support for tightening background checks for gun purchases.
Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell said he would not call the Senate back early to consider new gun legislation, rejecting a plea from more than 200 US mayors, including two whose cities endured mass shootings.