Los Angeles Times

US gun laws are getting looser, not stronger, despite more mass shootings

U.S. flags, across New York Bay from the Statue of Liberty, fly at half-mast at Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey, on May 25, 2022, as a mark of respect for the victims of the May 24 shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

In recent weeks, a string of devastating shootings — at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, a church in Laguna Woods, California, and now an elementary school in little Uvalde, Texas — has renewed calls for tighter gun restrictions.

Just hours after a teenage gunman killed at least 19 children and two adults at a Texas elementary school Tuesday, an emotional President Joe Biden demanded: "When in God's name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby? When in God's name will we do what we all know in our gut needs to be done?"

Gov. Gavin Newsom, in a series of furious tweets Tuesday, asked, "Who the hell are we if we cannot keep our kids safe. This is preventable. Our inaction is a choice. We need nationwide, comprehensive, commonsense gun safety now."

Experts, however, say the opposite — the loosening of

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