At least one person was killed in a shooting incident in Texas, in conjunction with President Joe Biden's announcement of a plan to limit the spread of weapons, and official figures have shown tens of thousands of deaths due to shootings in the country during the last 15 months.

Police said that at least one person was killed and others were wounded Thursday when a gunman opened fire in a company in Central Texas, the latest attack in a series of armed violence in the United States about 3 weeks ago.

The city police chief, Eric Bosque, said that the shooting took place at Kent More Cabins in Brian, Texas, and that the suspect was believed to be employees of the company.

President's plan

The incident came hours after Biden and his Attorney General Merrick Garland announced limited measures to address the escalation of armed violence in the United States.

"Firearms violence in this country is an epidemic, it is an international shame," Biden said in a speech at the White House, announcing 6 measures "that remain of limited impact."

 Among these measures is a new measure aimed at "stopping the spread of hidden weapons" that are manufactured manually and do not have a serial number.

Measures will also be tightened for some base-mounted weapons that the shooter can attach to his arm, a technique used in a recent shooting in Colorado.

The President has also requested that a comprehensive report be produced on the US firearms trade since 2000.

"We should also ban assault rifles and high capacity servers," Biden said.

The President announced the appointment of David Shipman to head the agency charged with controlling weapons, explosives, tobacco and alcohol, which is important in combating gun violence.

Shipman is known to be one of the advocates for firearms controls.

Texas Police announced one dead and several wounded in a shooting inside a company (Reuters)

In evidence of the absence of political consensus on this highly sensitive topic, no director for this agency has been installed by the Senate since 2015.

Unlike former President Donald Trump, Biden has been known for years to oppose the spread of firearms.

Nevertheless, Biden was satisfied with limited measures, knowing that he was unable to pass more decisive steps in Congress on this extremely sensitive subject due to the small Democratic majority.

Accordingly, no advanced steps have been announced in terms of verifying the judicial or psychological backgrounds of those who buy individual weapons.

Shocking numbers

The figures show that in 2020 alone, more than 43,000 people were killed by firearms in the United States, according to the Gun Violence Archive website.

This organization counted 611 "mass shootings", meaning that at least 4 casualties were expected in 2020 compared to 417 the previous year.

Since the first of last January, more than 4,000 people have been killed by a firearm.

 But many Americans remain tightly attached to their weapons, and have rushed to buy more of them after the outbreak of the new Corona epidemic, and even during major anti-racism protests in the spring and election tensions in the fall.

The White House said in a statement that "gun violence kills people and leaves behind a lasting legacy of psychological trauma within societies daily in this country, even when it does not lead the evening news," explaining that the president "pledged to take measures to reduce all forms of violence through firearms."

"There are more measures that can be taken, but these are really important steps," White House Communications Director Kate Bdingfield wrote in a tweet.