On April 3, six people were killed and 12 more were injured during a shooting in Sacramento, Calif. The Sacramento Police Department believes that there were five shooters and that this shooting was the result of gang violence between two groups. This event has led to conversations regarding the state’s gun control laws and the lack of news coverage.
Over 100 shell casings were found at the crime scene and police collected a stolen handgun, as well as a gun that had been modified to make it capable of firing like an automatic weapon.
California has the most restrictive gun laws in the United States, yet the people responsible for this shooting were able to access these weapons. More restrictive gun laws are needed to reduce gun violence in the U.S.
Simone Barnard, Communications major at Sonoma State, said, “I think there should always be gun reform. There is not a need for assault weapons like that.”
Recently, news of mass shootings in the United states is heard too often. Sunday morning’s shooting was the second in Sacramento within the past 2 months, with a total of 11 deaths. According to the Gun Violence Archive, in 2022 alone there have been 123 mass shootings in the United States.
Guns should have been banned in the U.S. after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012 that took the lives of 27 individuals, including 20 children. The Sandy Hook shooting is only the fourth deadliest shooting in the U.S. This December will mark a decade since this tragic event, and there has not been nearly enough change in gun laws or restrictions to prevent mass shootings.
Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg spoke publicly about the gun control issues present in the U.S. during a statement made the morning of the recent shooting. “We must do more as a city, as a state and as a nation. This senseless epidemic of gun violence must be addressed. How many unending tragedies does it take before we begin to cure the sickness in this country. Let us be honest; this is a sickness. The fact that we accept the idea that people can have ready access to assault weapons, to weapons of destruction, and can indiscriminately use them however and whenever they want,” he said.
Steinberg attended a vigil held on April 4, where community members as well as family and friends of the victims gathered to mourn. The violence abruptly took the lives of Sergio Harris, 38, Johntaya Alexander, 21, Melinda Davis, 57, Devazia Turner, 29, Joshua Hoye-Lucchesi, 32, and Yamile Martinez-Andrade, 21.
Barnard believes that the best thing to do moving forward is to celebrate the lives of the victims, and keep attention away from the shooters. “I think in the past with a lot of shootings and mass casualties, the killer’s face has been shown a lot and I feel like we shouldn’t give any airtime to those who decide to take another one’s life,” she said. “In a perfect world there wouldn’t be any violence but that’s not the case.”
