The number of shooting victims in South Los Angeles rose 742 percent during the first 16 days of 2021 as compared to the first 16 days of 2020.
LAPD Headquarters tweeted about the surge in shooting victims, noting there were 59 such victims by January 16, 2021, whereas there were only seven by the same time in 2020.
In a second tweet, LAPD Headquarters isolated fatalities, noting South LA homicides surged 150 percent during the first 16 days of January as well. There were 10 homicides January 1, 2021 through January 16, 2021, as compared to four homicides during the same time-frame in 2020.
LAPD noted South LA “accounts for 42 percent of [Los Angeles’] homicides,” which means the city starts the year on a trajectory that could result in a high murder tally.
Ironically, Los Angeles is a Democrat-run, gun-controlled city located in California, a state with some of the most stringent gun controls in the country.
For example, the state of California has universal background checks, an “assault weapons” ban, a 10-day waiting period on gun purchases, a red flag law, a requirement that would-be gun buyers first acquire a safety certificate from the state, a ban on campus carry, a ban on teachers in K-12 school possessing guns for classroom defense, and numerous other gun control.
The state also has laws controlling the sales of ammunition. Additionally, Southern California Public Radio notes Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously on July 28, 2015, to ban the possession of “high capacity” magazines.
Despite those numerous controls, shooting victims were up nearly 750 percent during the first 16 days of this year.
A similar rise in murders occurred in Democrat-run, gun-controlled New York City during the first 10 days of 2021. The Daily Mail reported there were nine murders between January 1 and January 10, 2021, compared to four murders during the same time-frame of 2020.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.