Can the U.S. Usher in the Turning Point of "Gun Control"

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　　For many years, the Gun Control Act has been one of the focal points of the struggle between the Democratic and Republican parties in the United States.

Nowadays, the United States has an unprecedented degree of social tearing. The two-party struggle is constantly deteriorating, and the historical and cultural traditions and interest groups are entangled by various factors. To truly achieve effective gun control, it is obvious that "the road is hindered and long."

　　On February 14, local time, US President Biden delivered a speech calling on Congress to advance gun legislation reform, including requiring background checks on all gun sales and prohibiting the sale of offensive weapons.

　　This day is the third anniversary of the shooting on the campus of Parkland, Florida.

　　However, in the eyes of analysts, the gun control bill has been one of the focal points of the struggle between the American Democratic and Republican parties for many years.

In the United States today, society is torn apart at an unprecedented level. The two-party struggle continues to deteriorate, and multiple factors such as historical and cultural traditions and interest groups are entangled. In order to truly achieve effective gun control, there is still "road obstacles and long".

　　One

　　February 14, 2018, is Valentine's Day in the West.

A school shooting at a high school in Parkland, South Florida, which shocked the United States, killed 17 people and injured 15 others, making it the most deadly high school shooting in American history.

　　After the gun incident, large-scale demonstrations were held in many cities in the United States, urging the government to tighten gun control.

　　However, at that time, Republicans who opposed gun control controlled the Senate, resulting in the gun control bill approved by House Democrats finally making no progress.

　　In the past three years, due to the influence of the presidential election, the new crown epidemic, racial discrimination and other incidents, vicious incidents such as shootings have occurred frequently in various parts of the United States, which has also increased the demand for guns by the people.

　　According to foreign media reports, in January this year, the United States sold more than 2 million guns.

Compared with the same period last year, it increased by 80%, setting the third highest single-month sales record in history.

　　During the campaign, Biden said that after taking office, he would control the use of guns in the United States and implement a series of gun control reforms, which triggered the public to purchase and hoard guns in advance.

　　2020 has therefore become a year of "gun buying fever" in the United States.

　　The hottest month was last June, when 2.8 million weapons were sold.

This is directly related to the protests and demonstrations caused by the black youth George Freud who was crushed to death by the police.

　　Behind the "gun buying fever" is the United States last year with a total of 612 large-scale shootings, an average of 1.7 per day; in 2020, 43,000 people were killed in shootings in the United States, including more than 1,300 children and more than 39,000 injured. .

　　two

　　Some research institutions estimate that there are currently 650 million civilian weapons in the world; Americans hold 42%, ranking first in the world, with an average of 90 weapons per 100 people.

　　In 2016, the annual "Unified Crime Report" released by the FBI showed that firearms were used in 71.5% of murder cases in the United States, 40.8% of robberies were used, and 24.2% of serious violent attacks were used. Guns.

　　Since 1972, more than 80 people in the United States have died due to gun killings on average every day, of which about 12 are children.

　　Although polls show that most Americans are in favor of gun control reform, successive governments have been unable to pass legislation.

　　During the Democratic administration under Obama, the US Congress voted on more than 100 gun control bills, but passed zero.

　　What is the difficulty in controlling guns in American society?

　　First of all, it has a lot to do with the "inviolability of the right to possess and bear weapons" stipulated in the Second Amendment to the US Constitution.

This has made the US government only dared to discuss "gun control" and never touched on the complete "gun ban" regardless of whether the Democratic Party is in power or the Republican Party comes to power.

　　In addition, the existence of interest groups is also one of the greatest obstacles to gun control in the United States.

　　The most famous of these is the National Rifle Association (NRA), which was founded in 1871 and has more than 5 million members in the United States. It gains political influence through monetary donations and prevents the government from controlling guns.

　　Historically, many presidents of the United States were members of this association, including Trump.

　　In fact, every time there is a major shooting incident, the debate over "gun ownership" and "gun control" in American society will increase.

However, due to the powerful influence of these interest groups, gun control bills often end without disease.

　　three

　　On January 15, the National Rifle Association of the United States filed for bankruptcy protection in the Dallas Federal Bankruptcy Court to circumvent the lawsuit brought by the New York State Attorney General.

　　Coupled with Biden's renewed promotion of gun legislation reform, does it mean that the US "gun control" will usher in a turning point?

　　In this regard, some experts believe that in recent years, after every major shooting incident, it will arouse reflections from the upper and lower levels of the United States, and will also cause a climax of the call for "gun control."

However, after the climax, American society fell into the vicious circle of "shooting-shocking-reflection-shooting again".

　　In the opinion of analysts, the issue of gun control in the United States has never been a purely social issue, but a sensitive issue related to historical and cultural traditions and the interests of interest groups and political forces. It is deeply rooted and difficult to solve over the years.

　　In recent years, with the impact of events such as the presidential election, the new crown epidemic, and racial discrimination, the degree of tearing in American society has continued to deepen.

　　At the same time, many deep-rooted problems in American society are related to the contradictory political ideas between the Democratic and Republican parties.

In many cases, the two parties are not even conceptually divided, but merely "opposed for the sake of opposition."

　　Like the death penalty, abortion, homosexuality, and other topics, "gun control" has also become one of the important aspects of dividing society and exacerbating party disputes.

　　In reality, the security situation in the United States may deteriorate further, and the people's concerns about their own security will increase. At this time, it may be difficult to get an effective response to the question of "gun control".

　　Zhao Xiaozhan