New Yorkers took to the streets to condemn a mass shooting in Monterey Park, California, over the weekend.

“We get out into the streets because we want to give our community here in New York a voice,” said Jay W. Walker, the founder of the group Gays Against Guns. “We have more mass shootings in this country each year than we have days in each year. We have more guns in this country than we have people in this country. This gun violence has got to end.”

Gays Against Guns held a rally in Union Square on Monday calling on elected officials to do something to prevent gun violence across the country.

“We have an ineffectual political leadership who cannot seem to get anything done to protect American lives,” said Walker.

As the rally took place, another mass shooting occurred in California — this time in a coastal community south of San Francisco — where at least seven people were shot in two locations. A suspect was taken into custody in the shootings, which officials said were connected.

Meanwhile, the death toll in Monterey Park continues to climb after investigators say a man opened fire inside a ballroom during a Lunar New Year celebration on Saturday night. The suspected gunman, identified as 72-year-old Huu Can Tran, was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on Sunday.

Activists in New York marched to Kimlau Square in Chinatown, where they were joined by more members of the Asian American community. They say what should’ve been a joyful celebration will now be marked with pain and despair.

“In New York City and around the country we are triggered, we have PTSD from this,” said Jo-Ann Yoo, the executive director of the Asian American Federation, a coalition of 70 groups in the city.

Yoo said regardless of the alleged shooter’s ethnicity, her community as a whole is still traumatized by racially charged violence.

“Nothing but pain and empathy for the families who will be triggered next year on Lunar New Year by the pain of losing their loved one,” she said.

Members of Gays Against Guns say they hope this shooting will encourage more people to join the anti-gun violence movement and demand action from our political leaders.

“What people can do rather than letting that fear paralyze them is letting that fear mobilize them and to stand up for stronger gun safety laws,” said Walker.

This shooting is the deadliest attack since May 24 last year when 21 people were killed in Uvalde, Texas.