The surge in shootings that marked the early weeks of the new year continued, resulting in more than 300 people shot in the first 30 days of 2017.

The Chicago Tribune reports the number of shooting victims January 1 through January 30 is 302; this includes fatal and non-fatal shootings. The number of homicides alone is 54, which means the city has averaged 1.8 killings a day every day this year.

On January 23, Breitbart News reported that shootings and murders for January 1 through January 22, 2017, were up markedly over the number of shootings and murders for the same period in 2016. According to the Tribune, “At least 228 people were shot in Chicago [January 1 through January 22, 2017].” That was an increase of 16 victims above the number shot during the same period in 2016. There were “at least 42 homicides,” marking a “23.5 percent … [increase from] the 34 homicides from the same period in 2016.”

This news follows the grim report that gun-controlled Chicago had nearly 4,400 shootings and almost 800 murders.

During a January 25 interview with ABC News, President Trump described gun-controlled Chicago as a “war zone.” He also took to Twitter to make clear he is sending in the feds if city leaders fail to rein in the “carnage”:

If Chicago doesn't fix the horrible "carnage" going on, 228 shootings in 2017 with 42 killings (up 24% from 2016), I will send in the Feds! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 25, 2017

Representative Luis Gutierrez (D-IL-4) and other Democrats derided Trump’s observations, rather than seeing the violence as a reason to support arming law-abiding citizens for self-defense.

AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of Bullets with AWR Hawkins, a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.