Amid increasing pressure from President Joe Biden for the United States to discuss and increase controls on access to weapons, the country recorded two new shootings on Thursday (2). The cases come a day after an action in Tulsa, Oklahoma, left four dead.
According to the Des Moines Register, an attack on a church in Ames, Iowa, left at least two dead. Local network KCCI News reported that the action was carried out by a man, who also died – it is not yet known under what circumstances.
Hours earlier, in Racine, Wisconsin, local police said on Twitter that gunshots were heard during a wake at Graceland Cemetery, leaving several injured. The corporation did not provide further details. Local TV network TMJ4 News reported that at least five relatives of the man being buried were reportedly hit.
It is not known who the suspect is or what his motives might be.
On Thursday, Biden gave an emotional speech at the White House in which he again pressured congressmen to pass stricter measures to control access to weapons. To that end, he said he supported bipartisan efforts and called on Democrats and Republicans to break what he called “years of ideological impasse.”
According to him, the country “cannot fail again” with the Americans. “And if we can’t ban assault weapons, we should raise the age to buy them from 18 to 21,” Biden said. “For God’s sake, how much killing are we willing to accept?”
Biden said it was inconceivable that a majority of Republican senators would not vote on stricter gun control standards. “It’s time for the Senate to do something,” he said.
The speech came amid a resumption of debate over the country’s pro-gun lobby and control over access to these artifacts, brought to the fore after two other recent massacres — at an elementary school in Texas and at a supermarket in New York. On Wednesday, another case joined them, in a hospital in Oklahoma.
