Dear America, The World Looks Up To You!
America needs to own up to its mistakes; it is time the people of the United States realise that their irrational want for Guns is devastating their homes.
Age Is Not Just A Number
In America, the legal age for drinking is 21; you have to be 21 years old to purchase and consume alcohol. The same is for smoking cigarettes.
Yet, in same America, the legal age for purchasing guns is 18. Now those of us who think that minimum years do not matter much or a difference of 3 years is hardly a difference, a study present on the Giffords site states differently:
The parts of the brain responsible for impulse control, judgement, and long-range planning are among the last areas of the brain to fully mature, and in fact, may continue to develop until at least age 26.1
The accused of school shootings at Uvalde, Texas and Buffalo supermarket were 18.
The accused of the Robb Elementary School shooting at Uvalde, Texas purchased a semi-automatic rifle and 375 ammunition after turning 18 on 16th May 2022; eight days later, he opened fire at an elementary school near his home, killing 19 children and 2 Adults.
He purchased the guns and the ammunition legally.
Firearms Statistics — US vs Rest of the world
According to the Gun Violence Archive, since the start of 2022, there have been 230 mass shootings. Here, a mass shooting is defined as a single incident where four or more people were shot or killed (not including the attacker).
America has the highest concentration of firearms per resident, a ratio of more than 120 firearms per 100 residents. The next on the list is Yemen.
Yemen has a literacy rate of 54.10%; the US is at 79%. Yemen is going through a humanitarian crisis, one of the worst. The US has a stable government.
Yet, Yemen has a firearms concentration of 52.8 per 100 residents.
This higher concentration of firearms has a direct consequence, and it is evident.
79% of the total homicides in the US were gun-related, which is again the highest in the world.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that the US has the most relaxed gun laws globally. Legally you have to be 21 years old to purchase a handgun from a licensed dealer; for long guns, the one used in Robb Elementary School shooting, 18 is fine.
For instance, all the other countries — Canada, Australia, Israel, the UK, and Japan- have imposed stricter gun laws, made background checks mandatory, and even started temporary buy-back firearms programmes to reduce the concentration of firearms in public. One can find the detailed laws here.
Hurdles In Updating Gun Laws and The Second Amendment
The gun-rights groups, the pro-gun activists, the NRA and gun lobbyists use the Second Amendment as a shield for the current state of the gun laws in the country.
The Second Amendment states that:
A WELL-REGULATED MILITIA, BEING NECESSARY TO THE SECURITY OF A FREE STATE, THE RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS, SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED.
This statement has been used and misused out of proportion. It was interpreted and misinterpreted as per convenience.
Two articles, one from The Washington Post and another from The Hindu, have shed light on this and are worth reading.
While the former says that when this amendment was ratified, it was concerned with the use of guns in connection with militia service. The misinterpretation that the amendment extends to individual rights to keep guns happened recently.
The latter states that the amendment intended to give people the right to defend themselves against an oppressive government and form a militia to protect themselves that can be further recruited into the federal military in a war.
This amendment was not supposed to be taken for granted, not how people interpreted it and made gun purchases their privilege and pride and as easy as having a coffee in Starbucks.
Why Are You Concerned, and if not, Why You Should Be Concerned?
I have purposefully kept emotions out of this post. Nothing I can write that hasn’t been written before. Eminent authors, writers, social activists, world leaders, and politicians have expressed their thoughts on this topic better than I ever could. I would not want to pollute that with my writing.
There is nothing I can write that will assuage the grieving family members who lost their kin to gun violence.
But these incidents, these incidents are worth noticing, writing, yelling and shouting. These incidents are never contained, and the emotions ripple out to the entire humanity.
The situation in America has drawn flak from all the world leaders. America is still a popular choice for people moving abroad. The US is still a world leader in education and technology. When these outbreaks of violence happen, the world looks up to America, hoping that it will get together its act.
And we should be concerned; we should continue to be worried even if this is not happening within our boundaries. The world is one family — Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam.
References:
- https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/5/29/inside-the-minds-of-americans-who-dont-think-guns-are-a-problem
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun_violence_in_the_United_States
- https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/explained-why-cant-america-solve-its-gun-problem/article65469995.ece
- https://giffords.org/lawcenter/gun-laws/policy-areas/who-can-have-a-gun/minimum-age/#footnote_152_5627
- https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/05/25/uvalde-texas-school-shooting-gunman/
- https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/5/31/infographic-how-many-mass-shootings-has-the-us-had-in-2022
- https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41488081
