10 people have been killed, including a police officer in the US city of Boulder.

In Colorado, when a gunman fired on shoppers in a local supermarket, people said they had to dive for cover or run to safety as the rampage took place, police said a suspect was in custody and was receiving hospital treatment.

Our North America correspondent, David Willis, reports early afternoon in a residential area of Boulder, Colorado, police are called to a local grocery store where a man with a rifle had opened fire as people were led to safety.

Chilling video emerged of victims lying wounded both inside and outside.

The store ran and hid behind the buildings, others on the end.

Over here, my dog is tucked right in front, their data and I think he's surrounded here just so I I think somebody might have been hiding.

I don't know, all right.

Among the dead was local police officer Eric Tally, an 11 year veteran of the Boulder Police Force officer.

Tally responded to the scene, was the first on the scene and he was fatally shot.

I also want to commend the heroic actions of the officers, responding not only from Boulder PD but from across the county and other parts of this region.

Police officer's actions felt nothing short of being heroic.

Pictures from the scene showed a middle aged man, shirtless and dressed in shorts, being led away from the grocery store in handcuffs.

One of his legs appeared to be coated in blood.

Officials won't confirm he was the gunman, nor will they comment on a possible motive.

So they're pulling onto Broadway here.

As SWAT team officers converged on the scene, the White House said President Biden had been briefed on the incident last month from the third anniversary of a mass shooting in Florida in which 17 people died.

He called for background checks on anyone seeking to buy a gun and a ban on assault weapons.

But this is the second mass shooting in this country in the space of a week, and it has already prompted calls for a new national conversation about gun violence.

Senator Amy Klobuchar, who is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, tweeted back to normal cannot mean a return to horrific gun violence.

The committee has a hearing on gun safety tomorrow.

We must put a stop to this.

The state of Colorado is no stranger to gun violence.

12 people lost their lives in the city of Aurora in 2012 after a gunman opened fire into a crowded cinema 13 when two students stormed into Columbine High School before killing themselves.

But the right to own a gun is enshrined in the Constitution here, and those seeking a change in the law have had their attempts thwarted many times before.

David Willis, BBC News Los Angeles Well, my colleague from CBS News, Omar Villafranca, sent this update from outside the supermarket in Boulder.

This is where everything happened.

This is the King Soopers market here behind me, and it is closed.

It's blocked off.

They're still police inside.

They have tape surrounding everything there.

It is still an active crime scene, and it is a very, very large crime scene not only inside of the grocery store, but also outside in the parking lot.

So they're in their processing.

This this could take a long time for them.

Omar, I suppose so many questions now about what the actual motive of the gunman was.

That is the million dollar question here.

A matter of fact.

Police are kind of being tight lipped right now.

They're not confirming the name of the suspect.

They're not even telling us a motive or what kind of weapon was used.

At this point.

There is video that has been circulating of a man that was handcuffed being let out.

It looked like he was in his underwear and his right leg was bleeding.

But police aren't even telling us if that is, in fact, the injured suspect officially.

Yet there is another press conference at 8 30 local time where we're hoping to get more information.

That was Omar Villafranca there from CBS News.

We're going to talk to gun violence activist Jameer Oberly in just a moment.

But first, let's see where the law stands with gun safety in the U.

S.

Because it's on the agenda at the Senate later today.

Well, President Biden has said he wants tougher legislation around background checks.

Earlier this month, the House of Representatives passed a bill which will require background checks on all firearms sales and transfers.

A second bill also extends the review period for background checks from 3 to 10 days.

However, the bills will need significant bipartisan support to progress through the Senate president.

Biden has also called for laws to ban assault weapons and high capacity magazines and eliminating immunity for gun manufacturers.

Gallup Poll in November found that just 57% of Americans want stricter gun laws, the lowest number in favour since 2016 and gun sales hit a new record high in January.

Well, Jim era Burly joins us from New York.

She worked for the 2016 Clinton presidential campaign and has worked with Amnesty International on gun violence and criminal justice.

Jim Era Thanks so much for joining us here on the program.

You know, when something like this happens, it really does feel like there is now standard reaction.

Things have become quite routine.

It's condemned.

This calls for this sort of violence to end, and then it doesn't seem like anything much happens.

No, I agree, you know.

And here in America we've come to the conclusion that gun violence is very much uniquely an American problem that oftentimes you know, politicians use it as a moment to send Bolton prayers to the victims, but don't actually do their job and enacting legislation that will keep more people safe.

Um, I and hundreds of thousands of people in this country have lost loved ones due to gun violence.

30,000 people are killed every single year, hundreds of thousands injured.

And yet Congress only responds.

Always is thoughts and prayers.

Um, it's about time that we take this a little bit more seriously and ensuring that we're protecting the lives of these individuals over guns.

Indeed, because this whole issue is extremely personal for you.

Yes.

Yes.

I lost my 20 year old brother Andre in 2000 and five due to gun violence and have since lost a nephew and a cousin.

Um, and, you know, I'm a part of a community of people that never signed up to lose a loved one, but yet we're committed to ensuring that other people don't, um, you know, I feel the pain and heartache that we have.

Um, and communities across this country are bearing the burden of that heartbreak.

Um, and it's it's disturbing to see that it's more easy to get a gun in this country than it is to actually cast your vote.

And when you see a Gallup poll like that.

I mean, frankly, it seems like, uh, people wanting fewer guns in the in the United States.

It's not something that is a priority anymore.

I disagree.

You know, I think that there is a lot that has happened over the last few years that have exacerbated the divide within this country.

Um and which is why I think you can't look at gun violence as an isolated issue without looking at the whole of what is driving this country division, which is race in this country.

Um, and I think a lot of folks are seeing the need to buy guns because of their distrust for government, Um, and in and in the result it enables for folks who should not have guns, who will not pass the background check or who have harmed other loved ones in the past to now have, um, access to guns with impunity.

And so I think, while there, while their numbers have dropped for the survey on how many people actually want gun control, I think the desire is still there for Congress to do something.

And at the very least, what they can do is remove the restrictions for the C D.

C.

To actually study the results in the cause of effects for gun violence in this country.

But then, of course, there are the issue of the states.

Each state has its own policies.

No, I agree.

Um, and that's why a lot of activism have moved to the States because we haven't been able to see, um, the push for federal legislation to move.

And so you see a lot of action happening with organizers working with state governments to put restrictions to ask for background checks.

Um, it's state by state.

But the problem is that one person can drive to another state that has less restrictions by a gun and come back to their state and commit harm.

And so there still is a need for the federal government to step up and do something, um, to protect every single person in this country who has lost someone and has the potential to lose someone again.

Jimmy, rub early.

Really good to talk to you.

Thank you so much for joining us.

Thank you.