Friday, 17 May, 2024
By: Yash Gupte
The total number of gun violence deaths (murders and suicides) in 2023 as of August 27 stands at 28,284. Image Source: IANS
In United States, the right to keep and bear arms is a fundamental right protected by the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution.
A former police officer opened fire at a famous motorcycle club in California on Wednesday night, leaving five people dead and at least six more hurt, according to Daily Mail Online. According to the police, the suspect was shot and killed by security officers who were called to the scene. Six victims of gunshot wounds were sent urgently to a neighbouring hospital for treatment. 11 persons in total, including the suspect, came under gunfire, but no law enforcement officers were hurt. According to CBS News, an argument between a former police officer's wife and him resulted in gunfire.
The former police officer was identified as John Snowling, 59. Orange County Sheriff-Coroner Don Barnes later said in a statement that John Snowling entered the bar in Orange County at 7:00 pm local time armed with two guns. The former police officer and his wife were soon to have a divorce. As soon as he entered the bar with arms, he shot his wife and a woman she was eating with. According to the police, the wife’s dining companion died immediately and John Snowling’s wife was hospitalised.
In a statement released on Thursday, California Governor Gavin Newsom urged residents to use the state's red flag laws, which "allow victims of domestic violence, family members, co-workers, and others to seek protective orders to prohibit potentially dangerous individuals and abusers from possessing guns."
Cook's Corner, about 50 miles south of Los Angeles, is situated at the intersection of El Toro, Santiago Canyon, and Live Oak Canyon roads, a short distance from O'Neill Regional Park. In response to the horrific event, California State Senator Dave Min posted on X, saying, "I'm devastated by news of yet another mass shooting tonight, this time at Cook's Corner, a historic bar in the heart of Orange County. I'm keeping an eye on the situation with my team, and we'll do everything we can to support law enforcement.”
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 473 incidents of mass shootings as of August 27, 2023. The total number of gun violence deaths (murders and suicides) in 2023 as of August 27 stands at 28,284. 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.
*Till August 27, 2023 Source: Gun Violence Archive
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 349 incidents of mass shootings have been reported in the United States till July 5, 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.
