Texas shooting victims demand $27 billion from authorities

In the first five months of 2022, at least 215 executions were recorded in the US. Four or more people died in 10 cases, according to the Gun Violence Archive. By comparison, there were 693 mass shootings in the US in 2021, 28 of which had four or more deaths.

The debate about tougher gun laws in the US has intensified since three major shootings in May and June 2022.

A shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo on May 13 killed ten people and injured 13 others. At the same time, the 18-year-old shooter, before the crime, prepared a manifesto outlining the racist conspiracy theory of the “Great Replacement”, talk about which is popular among white nationalists.

On May 24, another 18-year-old gunned down 19 students and two teachers at a Texas elementary school. Since then, Democrats — governors and senators — across the country have urged Congress and their legislatures to pass restrictions on firearms. Republicans have mostly called for increased mental health and school protection measures, such as increasing the number of security guards.

On June 1, in the US city of Tulsa, Oklahoma, a man entered a hospital with a rifle and a pistol, killing four people and injuring several more. Then he committed suicide.

US President Joe Biden of the Democratic Party urged to fight the gun lobby, but said that specific laws should be passed by Congress. At the same time, in Congress, all proposals to counter executions from the Republican and Democratic parties are mutually blocked, since politicians cannot agree on specific measures.