hello and welcome to bbc world news 10
people have been killed including
a police officer in the u.s city of
boulder in colorado
when a gunman fired on shoppers in a
local supermarket
people said they had to dive for cover
or run to safety as the rampage took
place police said a suspect was in
custody and was receiving hospital
treatment
our north america correspondent david
willis reports
early afternoon in a residential area of
boulder colorado
police are called to a local grocery
store where a man
with a rifle had opened fire
as people were led to safety chilling
video emerged of victims lying wounded
both inside and outside the store
and i think they surrounded it just like
i think somebody might have been hiding
i don't know
among the dead was local police officer
eric talley an 11-year
veteran of the boulder police force
officer tally responded to the scene was
the first on the scene
and he was fatally shot i also want to
commend
the heroic actions of the officers
responding not only from boulder pd
but from across the county and other
parts
of this region
police officer's actions felt nothing
short of being heroic
pictures from the scene showed a
middle-aged man shirtless and dressed in
shorts
being led away from the grocery store in
handcuffs
one of his legs appeared to be coated in
blood officials won't confirm
he was the gunman nor will they comment
on a possible motive
so they're pulling onto broadway here as
swat team officers converged on the
scene
the white house said president biden had
been briefed on the incident
last month on the third anniversary of a
mass shooting in florida
in which 17 people died he called for
background checks
on anyone seeking to buy a gun and a ban
on assault weapons
but this is the second mass shooting in
this country in the space of a week
and it has already prompted calls for a
new national conversation
about gun violence senator amy klobuchar
who's a member of the senate judiciary
committee
tweeted back to normal cannot mean a
return to horrific gun violence
the committee has a hearing on gun
safety tomorrow
we must put a stop to this the state of
colorado is no stranger to gun violence
12 people lost their lives in the city
of aurora
in 2012 after a gunman opened fire into
a crowded cinema
13 when two students stormed into
columbine high school
before killing themselves but the right
to own a gun is enshrined in the
constitution here
and those seeking a change in the law
have had their attempts thwarted
many times before david willis bbc news
los angeles well my colleague from cbs
news omar
villafranca sent this update from
outside the supermarket in boulder
this is where everything happened this
is the king supers market here behind me
and it is closed it's blocked off
there's still uh police inside they have
tape surrounding everything there it is
still an active crime scene and it is a
very very large crime scene not only
inside of the grocery store
but also outside in the parking lot so
they're they're processing this this
could take a long time for them
omar i suppose so many questions now
about what the actual motive of the
gunman was
that is the million-dollar question here
a matter of fact police are kind of
being tight-lipped right now
they're not confirming the name of the
suspect
uh they're not even telling us a motive
or what kind of weapon
was used at this point there is video
that has been circulating
of a man that was handcuffed being let
out it looked like he was in his
underwear and his right leg was bleeding
but police aren't even telling us if
that is in fact the injured suspect
officially yet there's another press
conference at 8 30 local time
where we're hoping to get more
information that was omar villafranca
there from cbs news we're going to talk
to gun violence activist jamira burley
in just a moment
but first let's see where the law stands
with gun safety in the u.s because
it's on the agenda at the senate later
today well president biden has said
he wants tougher legislation around
background checks
earlier this month the house of
representatives passed a bill
which will require background checks on
all firearms sales and transfers
a second bill also extends the review
period for background checks
from three to ten days however the bills
will
need significant bipartisan support to
progress through the senate
president biden has also called for laws
to ban
assault weapons and higher capacity
magazines
and eliminating immunity for gun
manufacturers
a gallup poll in november found that
just 57
of americans want stricter gun laws the
lowest number in favor
since 2016 and gun sales hit a new
record high
in january well jamira burley joins us
from new york she worked for the 2016
clinton presidential campaign and has
worked with amnesty international
on gun violence and criminal justice
jamira thanks so much
for joining us here on the program you
know when something like this happens it
really does feel like there is now
standard
reaction things have become quite
routine it's condemned uh there's calls
for
this sort of violence to end and then it
doesn't seem like anything much happens
no i agree you know and here in america
we've come to the conclusion
that gun violence is very much uniquely
an american problem
that oftentimes you know politicians use
it as a moment to send thoughts and
prayers to the victims
but don't actually do their job and
enacting legislation that will keep more
people safe
i and hundreds of thousands of people in
this country have lost loved ones due to
gun violence 30
000 people are killed every single year
hundreds of thousands injured
and yet congress only responds always is
thoughts and prayers
um it's about time that we take this a
little bit more seriously and ensuring
that we're protecting the lives of
individ
individuals over guns indeed because
this
whole issue is extremely personal for
you
yes yes i lost my 20 year old brother
andre in 2005 due to gun violence and
have since lost a nephew
and a cousin um and you know i'm a part
of a community of people that never
signed up
to lose a loved one but yet we're
committed to ensuring that other people
don't um you know feel the pain and
heartache that we have
um and communities across this country
are bearing the burden
of that that heartbreak um and it's
disturbing to see that it's more easy
to get a gun in this country than it is
to actually cast your vote
and when you see a gallup poll like that
i mean frankly it seems like uh
you know people wanting fewer guns uh
in the in the united states it's not
something that is a priority anymore
i i disagree you know i think that there
is a lot that has happened over the last
few years that have
exacerbated the divide within this
country and which is why i think you
can't look at gun violence as an
isolated issue
without looking at the whole of what is
driving this country division which is
race in this country
and i think a lot of folks are seeing
the need to buy guns because of their
distrust for government um and then and
in the result it enables for
folks who should not have guns who will
not pass a background check or who have
harmed
other loved ones in the past to now have
um
access to guns with impunity and so i
think while they're
while they're the numbers have dropped
for the survey on how many people
actually want gun control i think the
desire is still there for congress to do
something
and at the very least what they can do
is remove the restrictions for the cdc
to actually study
the results and the cause of effects for
gun violence in this country
but then of course there are the issue
of the states each state has its own
policies
no i agree um and that's why a lot of
activism
have moved to the states because we
haven't been able to see
the push for federal legislation to move
and so you see a lot of action happening
with organizers working with state
governments to put restrictions
to ask for background checks it's state
by state but the problem is that one
person can drive to another state
that has um less restrictions buy a gun
and come back to their state and commit
harm
and so there still is a need for the
federal government to step up and do
something
um to protect every single person in
this country who has lost someone and
has the potential to lose someone again
tamira burley uh really good to talk to
you thank you so much for joining us
thank you