Teenager’s death fuels US gun debate

A week after she performed at President Barack Obama’s inauguration, a teenage majorette has been shot dead in Chicago.

Police say 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton was shot in the back on Tuesday as she sheltered from the rain in a bus stop at a Southside park. Her death is likely to reinforce growing calls for gun control.

“As the president has said, we will never be able to eradicate every act of evil in this country, but if we can save even one child’s life we have an obligation to try when it comes to the scourge of gun violence,” said White House spokesperson, Jay Carney.

The news came on the day former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords made an emotional plea to Congress take action on guns. She was seriously wounded in a mass shooting in 2011.

“Violence is a big problem,” Giffords told Congress. “Too many children are dying, too many children. We must do something.”

There has been an outcry across the country following the Newtown massacre in December, which claimed the lives of 20 children and six adults. Democrats have asked Congress to pass the largest package of gun restrictions in decades.

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