Active shooter becomes new symbol for U.S. Independence Day: WP

NEW YORK, July 6 (Xinhua) -- On July 4, a day meant to commemorate the independence of the United States, gun violence has made people's lives manifestly less free and safe, reported The Washington Post on Tuesday.

With the multiple shootings across the country on that day, "it's difficult to believe this is the vision our Founders had in mind when they set down 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness' as inalienable rights," said the report.

The Supreme Court, however, in a ruling this past month that makes it easier for gun-toting Americans to carry their weapons in public, argued that a New York law restricting the concealed carrying of guns was not "consistent with the Nation's historical tradition of firearm regulation," according to the report.

"Thus a selective reading of a few of the Constitution's frozen-in-amber lines is used to override the needs of the present day, in a country where guns outnumber people," it said.

"It is devastating that a celebration of America was ripped apart by our uniquely American plague," said Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker. "A day dedicated to freedom has put into stark relief the one freedom we as a nation refuse to uphold: the freedom of our fellow citizens to live without the daily fear of gun violence."