Stats: Nearly 300 Mass US Shootings This Year

The latest U.S. mass shooting that claimed the lives of nine people at a community college in Oregon highlights the increasing level of gun violence across the country. It prompted President Barack Obama to again call for strengthening gun control laws in an effort to decrease mass violence.

The routine nature of mass shooting in America will continue unless the country's politics change, Obama said after meeting with reporters at the White House Thursday following news of the latest shooting.

With a look of anger and frustration on his face, Obama spoke forcefully about the college campus shooting. He pointed to U.S. lawmakers' refusal to pass gun control measures that he said would curb mass shootings and reduce the level of gun violence.

Since taking office in 2009, Obama has spoken out forcefully or issued statements following 15 mass shootings, including the 2012 massacre of 20 students and six teachers at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

The president said the latest mass shooting and news reports of other incidents have become routine in Americans' lives. He urged members of Congress to take action. If not, voters should send a message to their elected officials, he said.

So far this year, there have been nearly 300 mass shootings, more than one per day involving four or more people...........http://www.voanews.com/content/united-states-mass-shootings/2989301.html
2/10/15