U.S. hosts annual gun convention despite gun violence concerns: media

LONDON, April 18 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. National Rifle Association (NRA) has pressed ahead with its annual convention even though the country is set to see its deadliest year for gun violence, British media reported.

"Young children wield deadly handguns and lethal rifles at a bonkers annual convention dubbed 'family-friendly' by the organizers," Daily Mirror said in its report published Monday.

The event, held at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, is now in its 152nd yearly iteration. It saw guns, rifles and shooting equipment displayed across more than 60,000 square meters, said the report.

There have been 12,358 deaths involving guns so far in 2023, including homicide and suicide, said the report, citing numbers from the Gun Violence Archive (GVA). Among the death, there were 75 children aged under 11 and 437 teenagers aged 12 to 17.

According to the non-profit group GVA, there have been 162 mass shootings in the first 15 weeks of 2023, a daily average of more than 1.5 mass shootings.