Three killed in mass shooting at Maryland factory in US
At least three people were killed and three others injured in a mass shooting in a manufacturing facility in Maryland, authorities said.
The manufacturing facility where the incident took place is said to be a Columbia Machine factory in Northern Maryland. The shooter and a Maryland State Police trooper are among the injured. The governor said to the US media that he did not know the status of the shooter.
"We are actively monitoring the mass shooting in #Smithsburg right now, and our office is in contact with officials on the ground. If you're local, please stay away from the area as law enforcement responds," Rep. David Trone (D-Md.) tweeted soon after the shooting.
A 23-year-old man from West Virginia is identified as the suspect who also worked at Columbia Machine, which provides concrete product equipment to customers in over 100 countries. The motive of the shooting is yet to be determined.
This comes after the horrific mass shootings in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas, after which the US House passed a wide-ranging gun control bill to raise the age limit for purchasing semi-automatic rifles to 21, bar the sale of large-capacity magazines, and institute new rules that dictate proper at-home gun storage.
The legislation, Protecting Our Kids Act, was passed in the house of representatives by a mostly party-line vote of 223-204, which saw five Republicans for the bill. Whereas two Democrats, Jared Golden of Maine and Kurt Schrader, opposed.
To curb the availability of ghost guns or firearms without serial numbers, another component called the Untraceable Firearms Act has been provided. These ghost guns are the ones that are more difficult for law enforcement officials to track.
On thursday, the House approved a red flag by mostly a party-line vote, a bill that would allow families, police and others to ask federal courts to order the removal of firearms from people at extreme risk of harming themselves or others.
In US, Presently, the red flag laws are there in nineteen states and the District of Columbia. Under the House bill, a judge could issue an order to temporarily remove and store the firearms until a hearing can be held.
The act would now head to the Senate, which is evenly split and not expected to take up the legislation as negotiators seek to craft a much narrower measure. but the senate is unlikely to pass the bill, given the traditional domination of Republicans, who oppose any such restrictions.
“Why? Why would someone be against raising the age so that teenagers do not have AK-47s?” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said at an event. “Yes, they say mental health issues. Yes, we want to address mental health issues. Other countries have mental health issues. They don’t have a gun violence epidemic.”
US has lost at least 249 lives to mass shootings so far in 2022, which is a similar count to last year, according to a CNN report.
In one of the deadliest attacks this year, at least 10 people were shot dead, and three were injured in a mass shooting at a Buffalo supermarket in New York. Another incident which shocked the world was an attack on an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, in which 19 children and two teachers were shot dead.
These prompted US President Joe Biden to call for an immediate end to arms possession by the common masses.
Traditionally, the Republican party has been hesitant to act on the gun culture in the US, stating it is a democratic right of the citizens to possess arms. The seemingly never-ending cycle of mass shootings in the United States has rarely stirred Congress to act.
The House approved a red flag bill Thursday that would allow families, police and others to ask federal courts to order the removal of firearms from people at extreme risk of harming themselves or others.
The push came after a House committee heard wrenching testimony from recent shooting victims and family members, including from 11-year-old girl Miah Cerrillo, who covered herself with a dead classmate's blood to avoid being shot at the Uvalde elementary school.
Source: Shooting At Maryland Manufacturing Plant In Us, At Least Three Killed (cnbctv18.com)
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