The sound of gunfire is my ‘lullaby’ – The mayor of St. Louis, Missouri, USA, talked about shooting violence and was interrupted by gunfire not far away during the interview.
According to data from the “Gun Violence Archive” website in the United States, a total of 647 large-scale shooting cases occurred in the entire year of 2022, with a total of 44309 deaths. It is ironic that in the United States, the types of shooting cases have reached a level of vertical subdivision, and only shooting cases with four or more people can be called mass shootings.
As of March 27, 2023, there have been 129 large-scale shooting incidents in the United States, resulting in 193 deaths and 493 injuries. According to ABC, an average of 114 people die from gunfire every day in the United States. This number has reached a historic high.
In the past few decades, every major shooting case in the United States has led to a surge in “gun control” public opinion and the introduction of gun control laws. However, Gallup’s report shows that only 57% of the population supports stricter gun control laws, which means nearly half of Americans support Americans owning guns. The primary reason for opposing gun control is because it violates the right of citizens to own guns under the US Constitution. Unless the Constitution is amended or the Supreme Court declares gun possession unconstitutional, it is possible to bring about change.
Since Biden took office, he has promised the public that he will make progress in banning firearms. He angrily stated when discussing the violent shooting incident: It’s enough! “He had always wanted to control firearms, but now that more than two years have passed, Biden’s gun ban plan is still stuck on paper documents, and gun bans can only be talk on paper.
Anger is not enough. In the face of a series of shooting tragedies, American politicians, apart from quickly expressing “condolences and prayers” or remaining silent, as well as “habitual” statements and mutual wrangling, find it difficult to truly act. Due to party polarization and obstruction by interest groups, the legislative process of strengthening gun regulation and curbing gun violence is struggling.
The National Rifle Association (NRA) is an important force in the fight against gun bans in the United States. According to an analysis of federal gun background survey data, the Washington Post found that the United States has more firearms than people, with 300 million Americans owning 390 million firearms and 121 firearms for every 100 Americans. Although Americans only account for 4% of the global population, they own 40% of the world’s total number of firearms, which is higher than the private gun ownership rate in the war torn country of Yemen. Approximately 5 million firearms are sold to the public every year, forming a huge gun market and a large industrial system and interest group. The sale of firearms brings huge profits to gun manufacturers and hundreds of billions of dollars in taxes to the US government, Becoming one of the economic pillars of the United States.
The NRA is a powerful interest group of the largest gun owners organization in the United States, with nine presidents in history being members of the association.
If we can’t win, we’ll invite the president to join us. In 1934, the United States passed the first federal gun control law, the National Gun Act. The NRA was keenly aware that “policy” was its inevitable opponent in the future, and quickly set about establishing a legislative affairs department to study the impact of national policies on the Rifle Association and lobby the government to obtain support. In this way, in the face of powerful capital forces, the ban on firearms is even more difficult to achieve in the face of the United States.
As a federation country, both the federal and state governments can make their own decisions on guns. Politicians who accept NRA funds will, to a large extent, consider the factors of the Rifle Association when dealing with guns. The powers of the government, parliament, and courts are mutually constrained, often constraining each other on gun control issues. At present, 44 states in the United States have provisions that explicitly protect citizens’ right to hold firearms. To ban firearms is equivalent to amending the Constitution, which requires not only the support of the vast majority of the Senate and House of Representatives, but also the support of the vast majority of states. It is basically not feasible.
There used to be a popular saying on the internet – ‘ever-changing president, forever NRA’. Although Biden saw gun violence tearing apart the “soul” of America, he probably didn’t want to see his old life torn apart due to gun bans.
Free America, shooting every day. During his two years in office, the shooting violence became increasingly severe. Apart from constantly “habitually” engaging in political wrangling to calm the emotions of the victims, he dared not do anything
