CHICAGO—Following a weekend of four major shootings in 6 hours covering four cities, over two dozen Democratic mayors turned to the White House for solutions, asking President Joe Biden to push for tighter federal gun laws. A total of 27 Democratic mayors sent a letter to Biden on Monday advocating for universal background checks, bans on so-called “assault weapons” and restrictions on gun sales. They also want Biden to take on more “soft power interventions” by pouring money into the minority communities that bear the brunt of gun violence. The weekend shooting spree left seven dead and 32 injured in Chicago, Austin, Cleveland, and Savannah. The shootings took place among outdoor crowds. So far, 2021 has been more deadly than 2020—the pandemic year that saw a record rise of violent crimes nationwide. Across the nation, over 9,000 people died of gun wounds this year (suicides excluded,) according to Gun Violence Archive, …