在假日周末，12人在南卡罗来纳州哥伦比亚购物中心被枪杀。在附近的汉普顿县，9人在一家夜总会外被枪杀。在宾夕法尼亚州的匹兹堡，一场生日聚会上的枪击事件导致两名青少年死亡，八名受伤。

最近的事件只是过去两年来美国各地持续发生的大规模枪击事件的最新例子，并且还在增加，与此同时，致命枪击事件总体上也在增加。根据枪支暴力档案馆(Gun Violence Archive)编制的统计数据，从2019年到2020年，不包括自杀在内的致命枪击事件增加了4，000多起，一年内增加了26%。枪支暴力档案馆是一家非营利组织，它将大规模枪击事件定义为四人或四人以上遭到枪击的案件，并通过公共数据、新闻报道和其他来源进行跟踪。

“这两起毁灭性的枪击事件将给幸存者和整个社区留下永久的伤疤，不幸的是，它们只是每天影响南卡罗来纳州人的枪支暴力的一小部分，”倡导组织Everytown for Gun Safety在回应南卡罗来纳州枪击事件的一份声明中说。“就在几周前，一名12岁的少年在格林维尔的坦格伍德中学被枪杀。几天后，科勒顿县一条乡村公路上发生枪击事件，五人受伤。

根据GVA的数据，尽管去年致命枪击案的增长速度有所放缓，但致命枪击案的总数仍在增长，达到近2.1万起。随着致命枪击事件总数的增加，大规模枪击事件也在增加。2019年，发生了417起大规模枪击事件，仅仅两年后，就发生了693起。截至4月17日，大规模枪击事件的速度已经放缓，但已经发生了139起此类事件(去年同期为148起)。与此同时，非大规模枪击事件的数量从去年4月17日的5445起增加到今年同期的5451起。

为了解决枪支暴力问题，美国总统乔·拜登(Joe Biden)本月早些时候宣布了一项打击幽灵枪的倡议。幽灵枪是一种包装成零件的枪支，可以在网上购买，然后不留痕迹地组装起来。

“任何人都可以通过邮件订购，任何人...恐怖分子和家庭暴力者可以在短短30分钟内从一个枪支工具箱变成一把枪。买家不需要通过背景调查，因为枪支没有序列号，”拜登说。

杰夫·斯文森/盖蒂图片社

匹兹堡公共安全部通信主任卡拉克鲁兹讨论了.

新规则从本质上扩大了《枪支管制法》对“枪支”的定义，涵盖了人们可以在网上或从枪支经销商那里购买并自行组装的“购买组装射击”套件。它将使这些套件受到目前适用于其他枪支的同样的联邦法律的管辖。

官员们说，目标是让无法追踪的枪支远离街道，远离那些被禁止拥有枪支的人的手中。

拜登还提名前美国司法部长史蒂夫·德特巴赫(Steve Dettelbach)成为酒精、烟草、枪支和爆炸物管理局的下一任局长，这个角色包括执行和实施枪支法律。

然而，白宫和枪支管制倡导者认为，实质性的枪支管制措施需要通过国会采取立法行动，但鉴于共和党的反对，这不太可能。

“美国不是唯一一个有精神疾病、家庭暴力、视频游戏或仇恨意识形态的国家，但我们的枪支杀人率比我们的同龄人高出25倍。区别在于容易获得枪支，”枪支安全组织Everytown for Gun Safety表示，该组织对拜登政府最近的举措表示赞赏和呼吁。

Weekend of mass shootings highlights rise in gun deaths

Over the holiday weekend, 12 people were shot at a Columbia, South Carolina, mall. In nearby Hampton County, nine people were shot outside a nightclub. And in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, two juveniles were killed and eight were injured after a shooting at a birthday party.

The recent incidents are just the latest examples of mass shootings that have been occurring at a sustained pace across the United States for the past two years and counting and which coincide with an increase in fatal shootings overall. Fatal shootings, not including suicides, jumped by more than 4,000 from 2019 to 2020 -- a 26% increase in one year, according to statistics compiled by the Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit which identifies mass shootings as cases in which four or more people are shot and tracks them through public data, news reports and other sources.

"These two devastating shootings will leave permanent scars on survivors and entire communities, and unfortunately, they represent only a fraction of the gun violence that impacts South Carolinians on a daily basis," said the advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety in a statement responding to the South Carolina shootings. "Just weeks ago, a twelve-year old was killed in a shooting at Greenville’s Tanglewood Middle School. Days after that, five people were wounded in a shooting along a rural road in Colleton County."

While the rate of increase in fatal shootings slowed last year, the total number of fatal shootings still grew -- to nearly 21,000, according to the GVA. And as the overall number of fatal shootings has increased, there has also been a rise in mass shootings. In 2019, there were 417 mass shootings, and just two years later, there were 693. Through April 17, the pace of mass shootings has slowed, but there have already been 139 such incidents (compared to 148 by the same date last year). Meanwhile, the number of non-mass shootings is on the rise from 5,445 through April 17 last year to 5,451 for the same period this year.

In an effort to address gun violence, President Joe Biden announced earlier this month an initiative to combat ghost guns -- a firearm that comes packaged in parts, can be bought online and assembled without much of a trace.

"Anyone could order it in the mail, anyone ... Terrorists and domestic abusers can go from a gun kit to a gun in as little as 30 minutes. Buyers aren't required to pass background checks because guns have no serial numbers," Biden said.

The new rule essentially expands the definition of a "firearm," as established by the Gun Control Act, to cover "buy build shoot" kits that people can purchase online or from a firearm dealer and assemble themselves. It will make these kits subject to the same federal laws that currently apply to other firearms.

The goal, officials said, is to keep untraceable guns off the streets and out of the hands of those prohibited from possession.

Biden also nominated former U.S. Attorney Steve Dettelbach to become the next director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives -- a role that includes enforcing and implementing gun laws.

The White House and gun control advocates, however, have argued that substantive gun control measures will require legislative action through Congress, but that is unlikely given Republican opposition.

"The United States is not the only country with mental illness, domestic violence, video games, or hate-fueled ideologies, but our gun homicide rate is 25 times higher than our peer countries. The difference is easy access to guns," according Everytown for Gun Safety, which applauded and had called for the recent moves by the Biden administration.