US has seen 45 mass shootings in the past month

The U.S. has seen 45 mass shootings in the past month as the country begins to reopen amid the coronavirus pandemic, with a total of 147 mass shootings recorded this year.

The incidents, which are occurring all over the U.S., are being tracked by the Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as when four or more people are shot. 

The most recent mass shooting to end with multiple deaths occurred on Thursday at an Indianapolis FedEx facility, where eight people were killed and several others injured.

President Biden has called on Congress to ban high-capacity magazines and assault weapons after several mass shootings earlier this month, as well as issuing multiple executive orders on the issue. 

Democrats and Republicans have been at a gridlock over gun legislation with Democrats wanting to crack down on assault weapons and Republicans refusing to move on measures they see as restricting Second Amendment rights.

“Gun violence in this country is an epidemic. And it’s an international embarrassment,” Biden said when unveiling his orders.

They include measures telling the Justice Department to propose a system so states can implement “red flag” laws, proposing rules to make guns that a person assembles themselves at home subject to background checks and putting pistols that have a stabilizer brace on the National Firearms Act.