Gun violence in US a sad state of affairs
- Two mass shootings at weekend claim 29 lives, yet politicians seem impotent to address an issue that’s been going on for too long
The world shakes its collective head at the extent of gun violence in the United States. In the wake of two mass shootings at the weekend that claimed 29 lives, politicians vied with one another to express shock and grief.
They offered all manner of reasons for the killings, but none addressed the political inaction that allows such outrages to be carried out.
In a matter of days, all will be forgotten until the next such tragedy. It is a perplexing cycle, but one that will be endlessly repeated until Americans deal with the hate, mental illness and lax laws behind tens of thousands of fatal shootings each year.
In the wake of the rampage in which 20 were shot dead and 29 wounded, it was revealed the 21-year-old white man had earlier posted online a manifesto in which he said he feared an Hispanic invasion of the state and that he was in part inspired for his actions by two mosque shootings in New Zealand last March that took the lives of 51 Muslims.
In Dayton, Ohio, another young man, wearing body armour, opened fire with a rifle fitted with a high-capacity magazine on partygoers in a bar, murdering nine and injuring dozens more. He was shot dead by police and although the motive remains unclear, his sister was among the victims.
US mass shootings: 20 killed in Texas Walmart, 9 in Ohio bar district
As shocking as the shootings are, they represent a fraction of the estimated 33,000 so far in the US this year that have claimed more than 8,700 lives. The figure does not include firearm suicides, which occur more often.
But Americans are wedded to their guns, the second amendment of the constitution guaranteeing their right of ownership. The powerful gun lobby has great political influence, ensuring no lawmaker will take tough action to restrict their availability.
There will always be guns in the US, legal and otherwise. Steps can easily be taken to lessen risks, from background checks on people wanting to buy guns to limits on magazine capacity. But the hatred that compels some people to inflict harm on others also has to be looked into.
