The champion of human rights, the United States (US), is making headlines for the continuous and appalling shooting incidents. An introspection and action oriented approach is required to tackle the issue.
There have been at least 130 shootings so far this year, including a recent incident in Nashville, Tennessee, on March 27, 2023 when three children and three staff members were shot and killed at the Covenant School, a Christian school for students in preschool through sixth grade.
So far in 2023, 9,870 people have died from gun violence in the US, as of March 27, which is an average of more than 114 deaths each day, according to the non- profit research database, Gun Violence Archive.
The majority of these deaths have occurred in states like Texas, California, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Illinois and Louisiana.
In the last three years, there have been more than 600 mass shootings, almost two a day on average. While the US does not have a single definition for “mass shootings”, the Gun Violence Archive defines a mass shooting as an incident in which four or more people are injured or killed. Their figures include shootings that happen in homes and in public places.
Deaths by suicide made up the vast majority of gun violence deaths this year – 57.9 per cent, the nonprofit gun violence tracker reports. There’s been an average of about 67 deaths by suicide per day in 2023. Of those who died from gun violence this year, 338 were teens and 60 were children.
The U.S. has surpassed 39,000 deaths from gun violence per year since 2014, according to data from Gun Violence Archive. Still, gun deaths have been down from 2016, 2017 and 2018, when the total number of deaths each year surpassed 50,000. However, the situation remains grim. There were 44,310 such deaths in 2022.
Yet, the US ranks 15th in the World happiness index 2023, and India stands at 126th rank. Now, it is clear that the methodology of such indices are made by people with unused brains. The audacity is laughable and the condition of US citizens is pitiable.
48,830 people died from gun-related injuries in the US during 2021, according to the latest data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That’s nearly an 8 per cent increase from 2020, which was a record-breaking year for firearm deaths.
So far in 2023, 9,870 people have died from gun violence in the US, as of March 27, which is an average of more than 114 deaths each day, according to the non- profit research database, Gun Violence Archive
While mass shootings and gun murders (homicides) generally garner much media attention, more than half of the total in 2020 were suicides.
There are about 120 guns for every 100 Americans, according to the Switzerland-based Small Arms Survey. No other nation has more civilian guns than people. And about 44% of US adults live in a household with a gun, and about one-third own one personally, according to a November 2020 Gallup survey.
American President Joe Biden in June 2022 signed into law a gun safety package passed by Congress and while not as sweeping as he requested and did not include a ban on assault weapons, it was the first gun reform bill in decades.
There’s been little political momentum in the divided Congress for more gun safety legislation, even as the rate of mass shootings has picked up.
