Here’s a uniquely American lede from AP’s MaryClaire Dale: “In a country with more guns than people — and one emerging from three years of isolation, stress and infighting amid the pandemic — Americans are beginning 2023 with a steady barrage of mass slaughter.”

+ “There have been 39 mass shootings in the first three weeks of 2023, including one in Half Moon Bay, south of San Francisco, which left at least seven people dead on Monday and another in California’s Monterey Park over the weekend in which 11 people were killed.” More mass shootings in U.S. than days in 2023 so far.

+ NYT (Free Article): Amid a Plague of Shootings, Bystanders Become Heroes. Civilians, armed or not, have put their bodies on the line to stop gunmen. But in a nation trained to ‘Run, Hide, Fight,’ many say it should never have come to that. “We should always call a hero a hero and thank them for selflessly putting their life on the line. But it makes me so angry that we never stop to think about the fact that we shouldn’t be asking average civilians to be heroes. I don’t want my husband or my children to have to be heroes.” America has gone from being a crime scene to a self-imposed war zone. Too bad legislators don’t have the courage of those who stop mass shooters. They Run, then they Hide. They never fight.