Washington D.C.’s strict gun control laws didn’t stop two major shootings Thursday

A tragic incident in Washington D.C. Thursday night goes to show that gun control does not save lives.

In two shootings that occurred in less than thirty minutes in the D.C. area, nine people were shot, two fatally. 

What happened?

The first incident took place around 10 p.m. on Thursday evening. Police were called to the 1300 block of Columbia Road in Northwest where two men with automatic weapons fired scores of bullets in the courtyard.

Authorities arrived on the scene to find that one woman and five men had been shot. One of the men, a 21-year-old from Southeast Washington D.C. lost his life, another is in critical condition, and the remaining four are said to be stable.

Then, less than thirty minutes later, police were called to another shooting at the 1300 block of Brentwood Road. This time they arrived to find that one woman and two men had been shot.

One of the men died, while the two other victims are expected to recover.

Why?

Police are still looking for a motive and . Atthe suspects this point, the two shootings are believed to be unrelated.

Police Chief Peter Newsham and Mayor Muriel Bowser provided an update on Friday in which they said that three of the victims in the first shooting were members of a local “crew” and four had records of previous firearm charges. But they added that a motive remains unclear and that at this point they are looking for a silver sedan believed to have been used by the shooters.

As regards the second shooting, they said that the suspect wore gloves and a mask and that they are looking for a pickup truck that could be connected to what happened.

Gun control not working

Washington D.C. has some of the strictest gun control laws in the country with an assault weapons ban, a high capacity magazine ban, licensing requirements, a 10-day waiting period for gun purchases, a purchase limit of one handgun a month, and a ban on private gun sales — to name a few.

Despite this, however, statistics show that 125 people have been killed this year as opposed to the 107 last year — that’s an increase of 17 percent.

Like Republicans are always saying: guns don’t kill people, people do.