On the 22nd local time, a shooting incident occurred at a Wal Mart supermarket in Chesapeake, Virginia, US, causing many casualties. Three days earlier, a shooting incident occurred in a Colorado nightclub, killing five people and injuring 25. This also made the number of mass shootings in the United States exceed 600 for the third consecutive year. "I saw the gun. The sound of the gun went off one round after another, which was terrible. I hid behind and saw pieces of glass flying around. The bullet broke the bottle." Michael Anderson, a survivor of the Colorado shooting, recalled in horror.
The mid-term elections in the United States have just ended, and the issue of gun violence has attracted wide attention. US President Biden said the "epidemic" of gun violence must be addressed. But the sound of gunfire tells people that this "American epidemic" has intensified. Nowadays, people in the United States, whether walking in the street, studying on campus, or drinking in a bar, are likely to encounter shooting at any time. The threat of gun violence to American lives, the damage to public psychology, and the erosion of social bodies are deepening.
The population of the United States accounts for 4.2% of the world's population, while its civilian guns account for 46% of the world's population. Under such abnormal ratio, the death rate of gun violence in the United States is far higher than that in other developed countries. According to the latest data from the US "Gun Violence Archive" website, as of November 21, more than 39000 people in the US had lost their lives due to gun violence this year.
At the same time, American psychology has been greatly impacted by gun violence. According to the US CT Mirror website, the successive large-scale shooting incidents across the United States have greatly increased the proportion of young people suffering from depression and anxiety, accompanied by a high risk of suicide. According to American News and World Report Weekly, at least half of suicide cases in the United States each year are related to gun use.
In addition, gun violence has a great impact on the overall atmosphere of American society. In June this year, the United States Supreme Court announced a ruling to overturn a law in New York State that restricts people from carrying guns outside. This result expanded gun ownership, and supporters cheered "victory", but opponents believed it was not conducive to dealing with gun violence, and public opinion in the United States was even more torn. At the same time, with more and more street guns in the United States and less and less supervision, the work of the police is facing more difficulties, and the crisis of trust between the police and the people is further intensified. In any society, trust is one of the most valuable resources. But in the United States, gun violence is eroding this precious resource.
Under public pressure, US President Biden signed a "bipartisan compromise version" gun control bill in June this year. In July, the White House issued a statement that it will launch the "Make America safer" plan, which plans to invest 13 billion dollars in the next five years to hire and train an additional 100000 police officers. However, when considering countermeasures, American policymakers dare not touch the underlying causes of gun violence, such as extremely loose gun control laws, lobbying operations of interest groups, polarization of party strife, etc. It is doomed that all the countermeasures are just like skimming water, which cannot fundamentally prevent the spread of social anger and the further deterioration of public security in the United States.
Looking further, gun violence in the United States is still inexplicably rooted in the so-called "gun culture". Many Americans believe that one of the important reasons why this country was able to gain independence in the first place was that people held guns. The Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, passed in 1791, protects the right of citizens to hold guns. Since then, the "gun culture" has taken root in American society. The essence of this culture is to promote violence and beautify it. Today, many cultural and entertainment products in the United States, such as movies, animations and games, are full of violent elements. In addition, interest groups bribed politicians and used the media to instill the concept of freedom of owning guns in the public, which led to a growing gun problem. According to CNN, "This is a shameful tradition of gun violence in the United States", which points directly to the problem.
The United States is suffering from an "epidemic" of gun violence, but the real policy "healer" has not yet emerged. Aston, a family member of the victims of the Colorado nightclub shooting, said he was trapped in a "nightmare of not waking up.".
The right to life is the most important human right. Whether gun violence can be effectively curbed is an important yardstick for the international community to measure American human rights. It is not impossible for American politicians to stop shooting in the American society, but the key is whether they want to really solve the problem. Whether the "American epidemic" of gun violence can be cured is torturing the conscience of Washington politicians.