The Biden-Harris administration and the fight for gun control

America's unique relationship with gun ownership, enshrined as a right in its Constitution, is also in the midst of an emotional and divisive debate over the meaning of these 27 written words, which give its citizens the right to bear arms. Which has also, in the view of many critics, helped usher in a culture that sees its own people killed by armed citizens more than any other high-income country in the world.

The spate of mass shootings over the past two months has led to renewed calls for more federal restrictions on guns. But even before the most recent violence, state lawmakers were busy enacting measures designed to help solve a public health crisis caused by COVID-19, but with particularly American traits.

The epidemic of gun violence in the United States did not disappear during the pandemic. It just faded into the background. In 2020, 19,380 people were killed in a country that has more guns than inhabitants, 393 million to 328 million. In January 2021 alone, 4.1 million handguns were purchased, the highest number for a month since 1998, when records began. There are 10 million assault rifles in private hands since they were allowed on the market in 2004.

After mass shootings in Atlanta and Boulder, Colorado, claimed the lives of 18 people, President Joe Biden announced six executive actions earlier this month.

These would lead, in part, to a ban on untraceable "ghost guns" and establish a federal standard for laws that take guns away from people a court deems a threat to themselves or others, commonly known as "red flag" laws.

Eight other people were killed in a mass shooting on Thursday at a FedEx facility in Indianapolis. The perpetrator later took his own life.

However, state lawmakers began work earlier this year and have passed measures that would ban high-capacity magazines, require training for firearms purchases and prohibit guns on state Capitol grounds. Other measures would strengthen background checks for gun purchases and add funding for programmes to reduce gun violence in urban communities.

Even during the pandemic, when legislative debates have broken down and the economy and public health have been top priorities, state lawmakers in several states have fought aggressively to enact new restrictions they hope can curb the gun violence that has long plagued the United States.

"This is something that affects blue states, red states, communities of colour and communities across America," said New York State Democratic Senator Anna Kaplan.

Most of the measures are passing in Democratic-controlled states, where lawmakers are building on the momentum that has been building rapidly since a school shooting in Parkland, Florida, three years ago inspired a new generation toward activism.

"We are slowly moving toward real action," said Allison Anderman, senior adviser to the Giffords Law Center, an organisation that advocates for restrictions on gun access. The group is named after former federal congresswoman Gabby Giffords, an Arizona Democrat who survived an assassination attempt in 2011. "What's holding us back right now is politics, not public sentiment."

Recent polls shows that support for tougher gun laws remains high: more than two-thirds of Americans support stricter gun laws, according to a March USA TODAY/Ipsos poll. While nine in ten Democrats support tighter restrictions, only one-third of Republicans share that view.

Lawmakers in states such as Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey and Washington are trying to enact new gun regulations this session. In Delaware, the state Senate passed a bill this month that would require training before purchasing a firearm. Another bill would ban magazines that hold more than 17 rounds of ammunition. Senate President pro tempore David Sokola, author of the legislation, said it is intended to encourage responsible gun ownership and prevent a mass shooting with a high death toll.

Mass shootings, while representing a fraction of the total number of gun deaths in the United States each year, are catalytic moments that can lead to real change, said Anderman of the Giffords Center. Her organisation, she said, received many enquiries from concerned lawmakers about their state gun laws in the wake of these recent mass shootings. The US House of Representatives passed a bill in March that would strengthen background checks for gun purchases. However, its chances of passage in the Senate appear slim.