Friday, 17 May, 2024
The shooting took place in a state with poor gun laws and a long history of conflict over local law enforcement tactics. Image Source: David Eulitt/ Getty Images
According to the Gun Violence Archive, as of February 15, 2024 at least 4,994 Americans were killed in gun-related incidents in the United States, or roughly 108 individuals every day.
Following a shooting at the Kansas City Super Bowl triumph parade that left one woman dead and numerous others injured, two men have been charged with murder. Following the event, Dominic Miller and Lyndell Mays—both of whom were shot and injured—were named as the culprits who were charged. Two juveniles were charged last week with violating the laws on gun ownership and resisted arrest. At a news conference, Jackson County prosecutor Jean Peters Baker announced that Miller and Mays had been charged with second-degree murder, two charges of armed criminal action, and unlawful use of a weapon, as reported by the BBC. Miller is thought to have been the one who fatally shot 43-year-old Lisa Lopez Galvan.
The shooting took place in a state with poor gun laws and a long history of conflict over local law enforcement tactics. Long plagued by gun violence, Kansas City was one of nine cities targeted by the U.S. Justice Department's 2020 crackdown on violent crime. With 185 killings in 2023, the city set a record, the majority of which used firearms.
Mayor Quinton Lucas of Kansas City has joined forces with mayors throughout the nation to advocate for new legislation aimed at curbing gun violence, such as requiring background checks for all purchases. On Saturday, supporters of stricter gun laws planned a demonstration in Kansas City, which is close to the site of the massacre. Numerous individuals may be seen in a social media video holding signs and yelling, "Enough is enough!"
While it is unlikely that the state government would ever propose legislation restricting gun ownership, the Missouri House did adopt a prohibition on city celebrations involving firearms on Monday. The Senate will now consider the issue.
The number of mass shootings in 2023 is the second highest on record, only surpassed by the 690 mass shootings in 2021. Slightly more was added to the total than in 2022 (648). In 2023, a series of major shootings left at least 2,692 people injured and 712 people dead. Mass shootings, which are defined as events in which four or more people are shot, have surged by more than 150 percent since 2013, when there were 255 of them. In 2023, around 656 mass shootings were reported in the USA.
According to the Gun Violence Archive, as of February 15, at least 4,994 Americans were killed in gun-related incidents in the United States, or roughly 108 individuals every day. 3,351 more people have sustained injuries.
As of now in 2024, there have been over 49 mass shootings, which the Gun Violence Archive defines as any event in which four or more people are shot or killed. Over 170 people have been injured and over 80 people have died as a result of these mass shootings. The bloodiest incident of the year was a series of gunshots in Joliet, Illinois on January 23, which were all committed by a single person. Eight people were killed and nine shot in what Joliet, Illinois, authorities referred to as 23-year-old deceased suspect Romeo Nance's "reign of terror."
Source: Gun Violence Archive
*Till February 22, 2024
Even though there was no significant federal legislation addressing gun violence in 2023, a number of states did. Background checks were extended to include the majority of private firearms sales in Michigan and Minnesota. Additionally, they approved legislation known as "red flag laws," or Extreme Risk Protection Orders, which provide judges the authority to order the seizure of a person's firearms if they are considered to be an immediate threat. Waiting periods between the time a person acquires a firearm and when they are able to take custody of it are enforced by the states of Colorado, Vermont, and Washington. Twenty states have enhanced background checks, eleven have waiting periods, and twenty now have red flag statutes.
Nearly 43,000 people lost their lives in the US in 2023 as a result of an ongoing and deadly wave of gun violence, with 656 mass shootings casting a shadow over this apparently never-ending issue facing the country.
As of December 31, 2023, around 42,888 Americans died from gun-related causes, according to the Gun Violence Archive, a website that analyses gun violence deaths and their causes in the United States. That comes to a daily average of almost 117 fatalities.
In United States, the right to keep and bear arms is a fundamental right protected by the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution. Open carrying of firearms in public, in some form, is currently allowed in 45 states. The country also lacks measures such as a national firearm registry.
Source: Small Arms Survey, 2018
A 2018 report by the Geneva-based Small Arms Survey discovered that US gun owners had 393.3 million firearms, which is more than the nation's current population of 330 million. United States also has the highest firearms per 100 residents’ ratio. And the figure is increasing. According to GVA, 7.5 million US adults - just under 3 percent of the population - became first new gun owners between January 2019 and April 2021. About half of new gun owners in that time period were women.
After a spurt of mass shootings in recent times, Americans are forced to confront the country’s unique relationship with guns. US President Joe Biden termed the gun violence an "epidemic and an international embarrassment" earlier in April 2021, months after taking office. Statistics, however, indicate that things are only continuing to get worse. According to a survey conducted by Gallup, despite widespread calls for putting a ban on carrying of firearms became common, the support for strict gun laws decreased last year. Roughly 57 percent of Americans favour stronger gun rules, while only 32 percent think things should stay the same. Ten percent of those polled thought that laws should be "made less strict. Statistics show that the United States is widely divided over curbing gun violence and new legislations against gun violence are far from reality.
After a string of shootings in major cities left at least 10 dead, illustrating the nation's continuous battle with gun violence, US President Joe Biden urged Congress to take action. Biden urged Republican lawmakers to join him in advancing "commonsense reforms," such as a ban on assault weapons, widespread background checks, and an end to the legal immunity enjoyed by gun manufacturers, in a statement issued by the White House on Tuesday.
The National Rifle Association (NRA), which has a sizable budget to influence lawmakers on gun policy, continues to be the most potent gun lobby in the United States despite years of financial difficulties and internal conflict. NRA and other groups have regularly spent more on pro-gun rights messaging than their opponents in the gun control campaign over the last three election cycles. Statistics show that the United States is widely divided over curbing gun violence and new legislations against gun violence are far from reality.
