Tulsa hospital attack is 233rd US mass shooting of 2022

There have been more mass shootings than there were days in 2022

The US has recorded at least 233 mass shooting incidents in 2022, including the latest shooting at the Tulsa medical facility where four civilians were killed on Wednesday, according to the Gun Violence Archive.

The US has recorded more mass shootings than there have been days in 2022 so far, with 1 June being the 152nd day of the year.

The Gun Violence Archive, which collects data on gun violence incidents in America, recorded 693 mass shootings in 2021 and 611 in 2020.

The increasing tally reflects the grim reality the US is facing in the wake of recent back-to-back incidents of gun violence across the country.

In the latest attack, four people were killed by a gunman who opened fire in a medical facility in Tulsa and is believed to have fatally shot himself on Wednesday.

In what was described as a “catastrophic scene”, Captain Richard Meulenberg of Tulsa’s police department said they found multiple people injured upon arrival at the Natalie Medical Building.

The incident comes a week after a mass shooting at the Robb Elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, where the community is still reeling from the devastating loss.

On 24 May, a teenage gunman used a military-style assault rifle and killed 19 students and two teachers of the school, in the second-worst school shooting in America since the Sandy Hook massacre in 2012.

Almost a week before, on 14 May, another mass shooting in New York’s Buffalo city left 10 people dead and three others injured. It was believed to be a racial attack targeting the Black community.

The spate of recent gun violence across the country has sparked a debate over the need for stricter gun control as Republicans and Democrats continue to clash over it.

The House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on Thursday to advance legislation that would raise the age limit for purchasing a semi-automatic centerfire rifle from 18 to 21.

The bill would make it a federal offence to import, manufacture or possess large-capacity magazines and would create a grant programme to buy back such magazines.

The legislation by Democrats, called the Protecting Our Kids Act, was added amid growing pressure for stricter laws after the Uvalde massacre.

The Senate is, however, taking a different course, with a bipartisan group striving toward a compromise on gun safety legislation that can win enough GOP support to become law.