Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/gun-control-debate-revisited-on-anniversary-of-virginia-tech-shooting Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript On the second anniversary of the nation's deadliest mass shooting at Virginia Tech University and approaching the tenth anniversary of the Columbine massacre, analysts examine the ongoing public debate over gun control laws. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. JUDY WOODRUFF: We've heard about Mexico, but we know gun violence has long been an issue on this side of the border. It was highlighted today by the anniversary of the worst mass shooting in U.S. history, in Blacksburg, Virginia.Hundreds of balloons sailed into a clear, sunny sky on the campus of Virginia Tech, as thousands gathered to commemorate the victims of the shootings that took place here two years ago.Thirty-two people were killed by a fellow student, Seung-Hui Cho, who fired hundreds of rounds from two pistols he had bought, despite questions about his mental state.Over the past month, there's been a rash of mass shootings in the United States, which have left 57 people dead, seven of them law enforcement officers.Two weeks ago, in Binghamton, New York, a 41-year-old Vietnamese immigrant, Jiverly Wong, killed 14 people, including himself. He fired 98 shots in a little over a minute from the 9 millimeter and .45-caliber pistols he carried.Prior to the shooting, Wong mailed a letter to a Binghamton television station that included his New York state permit to own the handguns he used in the murders. Most states do not require such authorization.On March 22nd, four police officers killed were in Oakland, California, gunned down by a man pulled over for a traffic violation.One week later, at a North Carolina retirement home, eight were shot dead.And across two Alabama counties in early March, Michael McLendon shot and killed 10 people before turning the gun on himself.All these recent shootings come in the midst of a national spurt in gun sales that began in November. This buying spree has led to an ammunition shortage for some of the most popular guns, and requests for background checks ahead of gun purchases have increased by 25 percent. WITNESS: I saw the man with the weapons inside the school. JUDY WOODRUFF: Next Monday, there will be a remembrance of the massacre at Columbine High School near Denver, where two students murdered 12 schoolmates 10 years ago with handguns and semiautomatic weapons.