Naomi Mallam
The USA - the gun capital of the developed world. What’s the problem and how should they fix it?
Warning, the following article contains information on a sensitive topic.
531 mass shootings, it seems like a global statistic over a number of years. However, the sad reality is that it is the number of mass shootings that have occurred in 2022 (as of 7/9/22, averaging at 2.124 mass shootings per day) alone in just the USA. In fact, the USA has by far the most gun related deaths per 100,000 citizens of all developed countries. Now, why does the USA have this problem and what can be done to fix it?
Many pro-gun citizens of the USA tend to cite the Second Amendment of the US constitution as a reason why they should have access to firearms, however this amendment was included in the constitution during the 18th century and firearms have developed massively since then. When the Second Amendment was implemented, there were no automatic or semi automatic weapons and most firearms could hold only a single round at a time and also lacked the precision of modern firearms. Furthermore, the USA had only recently declared independence and was in the middle of the Revolutionary War in which many civilians engaged in combat against the British Army. Another argument often seen online is that US civilians need firearms to protect themselves from others using firearms because (as the phrase goes), “you shouldn’t bring a knife to a gun fight”.
However, the lack of firearm regulation has caused an increase of 38 shootings compared to September 7th 2021 and 95 compared to 2020. Whilst this increase is likely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, these numbers are still alarming and should raise concern for all US citizens. Furthermore, during the summer of 2022, many videos of parents buying bulletproof backpacks for their children have gone viral - causing shock amongst viewers living in other developed nations where gun violence is not a concern lack due to stricter gun regulation. This is evidenced as the last school shooting in the UK was the Dunblane Massacre in 1996 and in the 2010s, only 3 mass shootings occured in the UK (in 2010, 2012 and 2018 respectively). This disparity in the number of shootings could be easily reduced using strict gun control similar to that of the UK however, gun culture in the USA is highly ingrained into society leading to mass opposition when strict gun regulation is suggested.
Realistically, the gun problem in the USA is a far more complex issue than most give credit for, however, the US Congress should be working rigorously to ensure the number of mass shootings decreases in the near future.
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