After two bloody crimes in California that killed 18 people within a few days, the governor of the US west coast state has called for stricter gun laws. "What the hell is going on here," lamented Gavin Newsom in Half Moon Bay, Northern California, with a view to gun violence in the United States. That would only happen 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 gunman killed seven people and critically injured another victim on Monday. The shots were fired in two farms, and the police described the murder as an act of violence at work. The victims are farm 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, Southern California. There, a gunman opened fire in a dance hall at the weekend on the fringes of a 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 the police.
Vice President travels to California
US Vice President Kamala Harris planned to travel to her home state on Wednesday and visit the affected community in Monterey Park, her office said. US President Joe Biden spoke of a "senseless act of gun violence" after the Half Moon Bay crime. "The scourge of gun violence across America" calls for stricter gun laws, the Democratic president wrote.
Newsom has long advocated tougher gun laws. California leads the way compared to other US states, but that's not enough. Conservative judges would relax tougher laws, Newsom complained. The nation must act united.
Gun violence and deadly attacks of this magnitude are sadly normal in the United States. Meanwhile, two people were killed in a shooting at a center for youth in the state of Iowa in the American Midwest. Police say the victims were 16 and 18 years old. The alleged perpetrator is an 18-year-old. A man shot and killed three people at a gas station in Washington state on Tuesday night. The alleged perpetrator was later caught, as the broadcaster CNN reported.
