The number of gun violence victims in the U.S. has been soaring, with at least 28 people reported killed by shootings in one day across the country, according to the Gun Violence Archives. The organization's data indicates that 31,949 gun violence incidents were reported so far this year, with 8,440 people were killed in shootings, exposing an increasing gun violence problem in the country.

In California, three people were killed and 12 others injured Sunday after a shooting that sent panicked people running at an annual food festival, according to a city official. The shooting occurred during the three-day celebration featuring food, cooking competitions and music that attracts more than 100,000 people.

In Philadelphia, one man was killed and five others were wounded in a shooting during a hip-hop video production. Police said an unidentified gunmen opened fire as the victims were about to shoot the video on Sunday night. A 21-year-old was shot in the head and died at the scene. Another 23-year-old victim who was shot in the head, a 22-year-old who was shot in the leg and chest, and a 22-year-old who was shot in the neck and back are in critical condition.

Shootings are a frequent occurrence in the U.S., but despite the scale of the gun violence problem in the country, efforts to address it legislatively have long been largely deadlocked at the federal level. The perennial debate over gun control in America kicks up again at each shooting, a far too frequent occurrence. Yet no solution has been found over decades that satisfies both those seeking stricter gun controls to reduce such tragedies and those supportive of constitutional guarantees to the right to bear arms. The power of an influential gun lobby and a long tradition of gun ownership have meant that little has been done to improve gun safety. Efforts have always proved divisive and Republican lawmakers have been highly successful at preventing what they describe as an assault on their right to bear arms under the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

The number of firearms in circulation has continued to grow, now at 393 million in a nation of 326 million people and mass shootings have become a disturbingly regular part of American life. The deadliest mass shooting on a higher education campus in the U.S. took place at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Virginia, in April 2007, when a student killed 32 people and then himself.