Mass killings in the USA seem to become an increasingly worrying problem this year. The latest mass killing took place on Friday night in Texas, where an intoxicated man shot five of his neighbors after they had complained about the noise he caused while shooting in his yard. That incident was the 17th mass killing and 174th mass shooting in the USA this year. This may be a record-breaking year for mass killings. There has been a mass killing approximately every 6.5 days, so far. (1)
Americans love guns. According to statistics, USA has by far the highest rate of civilian gun ownership in the world, 120.5 civilian-owned guns per 100 people. Falkland Islands has the second highest rate, 62.1 guns per 100 people. (2) About 46 % of Americans live in a household that has a gun. During the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020 – March 2022) there was a noticeable increase in gun sales. 20 million guns were sold per year during 2020 and 2021 and 18 % of the American households bought a gun since the start of the pandemic. During previous years (2010 – 2019) approximately 13 million guns were sold each year. (3)
Republicans and other hardline right-wingers have defended fiercely the right to own and carry a gun and they show their love for guns. When American talk show host Bill Maher talked about political advertising in the USA, last year, he also showed how politicians like to shoot things – watch, for example, a video of Republican far-right congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene where she shows how she would want to handle “the Democrats’ Socialist agenda.” (4) Republican far-right congresswoman Lauren Boebert insisted on bringing a gun to Capitol in January 2021, soon after the Capitol riots (5). During recent National Rifle Association (NRA) lobbying leadership forum, Republican governor Kristi Noem told to the audience that her two-year-old granddaughter has several guns (6). Republican politicians have proposed more than a dozen bills to remove gun safety laws, cut taxes for gun buyers, and offer special protections for the firearm and ammunition industries (7). 26 states in the USA allow people to carry a concealed gun without a permit and 25 states allow people to carry a gun openly without a permit (8, 9). Incidentally, most of these states are ruled by Republicans.
References:
1) “Texas man fatally shoots five neighbors after noise complaint, sheriff says” The Guardian 29.4.2023
2) “Gun Ownership by Country 2023” World Population Review
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/gun-ownership-by-country
3) “One in Five American Households Purchased a Gun During the Pandemic” NORC 24.3.2022
4) “New Rule: The United States of Dumb-merica” Real Time with Bill Maher 4.6.2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dMOfwUP0F0
5) “Boebert Clashes With Capitol Police After Setting Off Metal Detectors” CPR News 12.1.2021
6) “South Dakota governor says her two-year-old grandchild has several guns” The Guardian 15.4.2023
7) “The GOP’s extreme bills: Repeal gun safety laws” The American Independent 20.3.2023
https://americanindependent.com/gop-extreme-bills-repeal-gun-safety-laws/
8) “Which States Allow The Permitless Carry Of Guns? [Infographic]” Forbes 6.4.2023
9) “Florida becomes 26th state to allow permitless carry of concealed guns” Axios 3.4.2023
IDIS Observer 