Friday, 17 May, 2024
The total number of gun violence deaths (murders and suicides) in 2023 as of October 26, 2023 stands at 35,145. Image Source: IANS
If the 22 confirmed deaths are accurate, this would be the deadliest massacre in US history since at least August 2019, when a gunman used an AK-47 to open fire on Walmart patrons in El Paso, Texas, killing 23 people.
Multiple gunshots in Maine, United States, on Wednesday night resulted in at least 22 fatalities and over 50 injuries, according to local media. The culprit remains at large despite having been identified. According to accounts in the local media outlet Sun Journal, the shootings occurred at two different sites in Lewiston, Maine, which is the state's second most populous city: a restaurant and a bowling alley. A Walmart representative later told the newspaper that there was no shooting at the location and that it had been locked down and searched by the police, despite the original reports that the shooting had also occurred at a Walmart distribution centre.
Two public places in Lewiston, the Schemengees Bar & Grille Restaurant on Lincoln Street and the Sparetime Recreation on Mollison Way, were both targeted by a shooter.
The suspect, Robert Card, has been named by the local police as an active shooter. They have also provided images of the vehicle they believe he may have used and of Card. The suspect can be seen with a rifle in the firing position, wearing jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, and a beard in the photos that have been made public.
"We have literally hundreds of police officers working around the state of Maine to investigate this case to locate Mr. Card, who is a person of interest," Maine Public Safety Commissioner Mike Sauschuck told a news conference.
Card, a retired military officer, has a history of domestic violence arrests. He had earlier this year threatened to attack the military training base in Saco and reported experiencing mental health problems, including hearing voices and hallucinations.
If the 22 confirmed deaths are accurate, this would be the deadliest massacre in US history since at least August 2019, when a gunman used an AK-47 to open fire on Walmart patrons in El Paso, Texas, killing 23 people in what prosecutors called an anti-Hispanic hate crime, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
The 22 fatalities would also be comparable to the average annual number of killings in Maine. Since 2012, the state's yearly homicide toll has varied between 16 and 29, according to Maine State Police.
Source: Gun Violence Archive
*Till October 26, 2023
According to the data from Gun Violence Archive, an American non-profit group founded in 2013 to track the gun violence in the United States, there have been 565 incidents of mass shootings as of October 26, 2023. The total number of gun violence deaths (murders and suicides) in 2023 as of October 26, 2023 stands at 35,145. The overall number of firearm-related deaths in the US increased to 48,000 in 2021, the highest amount the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has ever recorded since it began keeping track of such deaths in 1968. This corresponds to an average of 131 people each day dying from gun violence. Around 54 percent of all gun-related deaths in the U.S. were suicides (24,292), while 43 percent were murders (19,384). The figure represents a 34 percent increase from 2019, and a 75 percent increase over the course of the previous decade. In 2017, some 39,773 died from gunshot injuries, an average of nearly 109 people each day.
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. According to reports, more than half of the 50 states in United States of America (USA) have now allowed their citizens to carry guns without any license and permit. Alabama joined the long list of 26 states that authorise residents to carry concealed pistols without permits on January 1, 2023.
More than 600 mass shootings were reported in the United States in 2022 alone, according to data from the Washington based Gun Violence Archive, which is more than twice as many as the 336 mass shootings that were recorded four years earlier. A mass shooting is any incident in which four or more persons are shot or killed, excluding the shooter. According to the Gun Violence Archive, around 565 incidents of mass shootings have been reported in the United States till October 26, 2023. The data from Centre for Disease Control shows that nearly 53 people are killed every day due to gun violence in the US.
The number of people shot and killed by the police in US in 2022 stood at 1,060. Police have killed the highest number of people on record in 2022, surpassing the 2021 record, when police killed 1,047 people.
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.
According to the Pew Research Centre, suicides have traditionally made up the majority of gun deaths in the United States, while receiving less media attention than murders involving firearms. According to the CDC, suicide accounted for 54 percent (26,328) of all gun-related deaths in the U.S. in 2021 while homicide accounted for 43 percent (20,958). The remaining gun killings that year included either unknown circumstances (458), law enforcement (537), or accidental deaths (549).
States differ significantly in their rates of firearm fatalities. Mississippi (33.9 per 100,000), Louisiana (29.1), New Mexico (27.8), Alabama (26.4), and Wyoming (26.1) had the highest rates of all gun-related deaths in 2021, including murders, suicides, and all other categories monitored by the CDC. Massachusetts (3.4), Hawaii (4.8), New Jersey (5.2), New York (5.4), and Rhode Island (5.6) had the lowest overall rates.
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.
