United States: Faced with the question of arms control, the State of Georgia remains divided
In the United States, one in three adults owns at least one weapon.
(Illustrative image) AFP PHOTO/ Yuri Cortez
Text by: Marie Normand Follow
5 mins
Saturday, June 11, a march is organized in several hundred cities in the United States against gun violence.
After another massacre at a school in Texas, President Biden stressed that he did not want to act by decree.
All eyes are therefore on the discussions in Congress.
With the midterm elections just months away, the population of Georgia, a key state, is extremely divided on the issue.
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from our special correspondent,
Royce Mann is one of the organizers of the "March for Our Lives" this Saturday in Atlanta.
This national event, created in 2018 by young survivors of the
Parkland massacre
, aims to fight against gun violence.
For the 28-year-old student, it is an emergency, a few weeks after new deadly shootings: "
The failure of Congress to take any action is a betrayal for almost all voters in this country, who largely support reforms of common sense.
Three out of four people, for example, support raising the legal age to buy a gun from 18 to 21, according to a poll released this week by Quinnipiac University.
However, only 50% of Americans approve of the nationwide ban on the sale of assault rifles, the type of weapon used in
the killings in Uvalde
, Texas.
"
It's not guns that kill people, but people who kill other people
," says Allie, who strongly opposes such a measure.
At 17, she will be able to buy a gun legally next year in the country.
Alexander, 22, does not have one at the moment, but he wants to keep the possibility of getting one later.
"It's a mental health problem"
For Alexander, a student at Georgia Tech University, the gun debate is a false debate and “
hides a much bigger problem
”.
An opinion reinforced after watching the video of the shooting in a Buffalo supermarket last month.
“
The shooter managed to broadcast the shooting live long enough to kill 10 people on camera.
It was horrible.
He was clearly disturbed!
Even if there were better gun control, these people could continue to commit such acts
,” he said.
“
People who have mental disorders should be forced to seek treatment
,” he adds, “
rather than taking away a right that we have had since this country was founded
.”
In a country where nearly one in three adults owns at least one gun, conservatives strongly oppose any action that would run counter to this Second Amendment.
Beside Alexander, Brandon approves.
He assures that to combat this violence, the United States must improve access to mental health care services.
He knows the problem well: he himself spends several thousand euros a year on insurance to be covered.
"
If you suffer from mental health problems in this country, it is very difficult to get help and very difficult also to have the means to get help
", regrets the 21-year-old young man looking for a job.
“A national security problem”
This idea, John, met at the end of the mass in downtown Atlanta, sweeps it away completely: "
Of course, mental health plays a role, but other countries have the same problem and they don't have not all that shit!
We have a proliferation of weapons, there are too many.
It is a problem of national security, not of mental health,
”assures the retiree.
This is the main reason that will push him to vote Democratic in the elections in November: “
To love your children or to love your weapons, you have to choose.
»
But if more progressives are elected in November, will they have a free hand?
The Democratic Senator from Georgia, Michelle Au, recounts having supported two bills before the local Congress in one year: the first aimed to generalize the examination of the psychiatric and judicial antecedents of buyers;
the second tried to impose a few days of waiting between the purchase and the withdrawal of a weapon, to “
defuse crimes of passion
”.
"
Of course, one measure is not going to solve the problem
," she admits.
“
But as with road safety, you have to work in successive layers: first the mandatory seat belt, then the laws against drink-driving, the presence of airbags, etc.
Each additional layer has reduced road deaths.
The same should be done for gun safety.
»
Neither of these two texts has passed the stage of the public safety commission, which must study it before the passage to the vote of the general assembly.
“
The chairman of the commission did not even let us present them
,” regrets Senator Michelle Au, a doctor by profession.
She accuses the lobbies: “
Many elected officials have separate interests from those of their voters, because they receive financial support from the arms lobby
”.
A few weeks ago, the Republican governor of Georgia signed a law allowing residents to carry handguns in public.
His campaign for re-election in November is widely supported by the largest of these lobbies, the
National Rifle Association of America
(NRA).
►
To read: In the United States, the difficult debate on weapons could finally lead to an agreement
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