[Circle Time Depth] The "younger age" of gun-related violence has seriously troubled the United States, and some people have sold guns "from dolls"
[Global Times Special Correspondent Li Zhun in the United States, Global Times Reporter Ni Hao Gao Lei] On June 11, a speeding shooting occurred in Chicago, killing 1 and injuring 4; A shooting incident occurred in the city, killing 9 people and injuring more than 20 people; on May 24, a shooting incident occurred at Rob Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, killing 21 people.
What is worrying is not only the frequent shootings in the United States, but also the decreasing age of the shooters.
Six of the nine deadliest mass shootings in the U.S. since 2018 were carried out by gunmen 21 and younger, data shows.
At the same time, gun violence has also become the leading cause of death among teenagers in the United States, and the reality in the United States makes it difficult for the government to take effective measures against it.
Shootings, 'biggest cause' of teenage deaths
Recently, a video of a 12-year-old boy robbing a gas station with a gun went viral on social media in the United States.
According to the "New York Post" report, the incident happened on June 1 this year.
Surveillance video shows the California boy walking to the counter, pulling out a pistol, demanding cash from gas station employees, and firing a shot at the ceiling.
Local police said the boy fled after the robbery and was arrested a few blocks away.
He said he did so "not for the money".
After the May 24 shooting at Rob Elementary School, many middle school students in the United States were arrested for illegally carrying weapons or threatening to imitate the vicious case.
Among them, an 18-year-old high school student in New York City left a threatening message on his desk: "I'm going to shoot at school, like Texas, get ready."
These are all recent examples of the proliferation of guns in the United States and the younger generation of gun-violent crimes.
The New York Times published an article saying that a disturbing "new pattern" of mass shootings in the United States has emerged: the attackers are young.
The "Washington Post" also lamented that the recent shootings show that the age of the gunmen is decreasing, "sadly, they (the gunmen) are very young, and this phenomenon is typical."
Data shows that since 2018, six of the nine deadliest mass shootings in the United States were carried out by gunmen 21 or younger.
By contrast, from 1949 to 2017, only two of the 30 deadliest mass shootings on record were by gunmen younger than 21.
Before 2000, mass shootings were mostly carried out by men in their 25s or 30s and 40s.
For example, the New York Times cited a mass shooting at a supermarket in Boulder, Colorado in March 2021. The murderer was a 21-year-old man.
In May 2018, a school shooting occurred in Santa Fe, Texas, in which a 17-year-old student killed eight students and two teachers.
In February of the same year, a 19-year-old shot and killed 17 people at Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
Two young men accused of recent attacks in Buffalo and Uvalde went down a similar criminal path: buying semi-automatic rifles after turning 18, posting pictures meant to show their power, and then turning those weapons against them. Quasi-innocent people.
Gun violence has also become the leading cause of death among teens in the U.S. while gunmen in the U.S. continue to “get younger.”
Car crashes have been the leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 1 and 19 for decades, but in recent years the gap between car crash deaths and gun deaths has begun to narrow, according to NPR.
In 2020, gun violence surpassed car crashes as the No. 1 cause of death for children and teens in the United States.
Researchers at the University of Michigan found that between 2019 and 2020, gun-related deaths in the U.S. rose by 13.5% overall, and among children and teens, by a staggering 30%.
U.S. children are more likely to die from gun violence than in other wealthy countries.
A study of 2015 data by researchers from the University of San Francisco and the Harvard School of Public Health found that in the 29 countries studied, the U.S. accounted for almost 97 percent of all gun deaths among children ages 4 and younger, and between ages 5 and 14. 92% of children killed by gunshots.
Over time, the U.S. has an increasing share of gun deaths in the countries studied.
Between 2003 and 2015, gun fatalities in the U.S. rose nearly 10 percent, while other high-income countries saw gun fatalities fall.
American campuses have become frequent sites of mass shootings, which has also cast an indelible psychological shadow on students.
"Every time I walk into the classroom, the first thing I do is find the nearest exit." University of Chicago student Hernandez said that she can't fully focus on the classroom, but needs to constantly look around to check Is there any suspicious person.
"Every time someone puts their hand in a backpack, I panic." Hernandez said it was very disappointing that students had to live in this situation and that the U.S. government had not taken effective measures to save students' lives. .
Selling Guns, "Grab From Dolls"
On May 26, two days after the shooting at Rob Elementary School in Texas, a 2-year-old in Florida accidentally killed his father with a loaded pistol.
This grotesque tragedy reflects the fact that teens and even young children have easy access to firearms, which is a big reason why America's gunmen are getting younger.
The U.S. controls guns too loosely.
According to the "Washington Post", under US federal law, citizens cannot buy alcoholic beverages or cigarettes until the age of 21, but they can buy lethal weapons.
In all but a few states, people can buy semi-automatic rifles after they turn 18.
The guns held by the attackers in the Buffalo shooting and the Uvaldi shooting were all legally purchased.
The huge number of civilian guns in the United States is also an important reason for the easy access of young people to this deadly weapon.
According to NPR, according to a 2018 study, the U.S. has about 393 million guns, or nearly 46 percent of all civilian firearms in the world (857 million). Only about 4% of the world's population."
The National Institute of Justice's investigation into mass shootings from 1966 to 2019 found that more than 80 percent of the shooters in elementary and middle school mass shootings stole weapons from family members.
The deep-rooted gun-owning culture in the United States has largely contributed to juvenile violent crime.
In the United States, some children have access to firearms at a young age, and the NRA also organizes teens to learn how to use firearms.
Information on the association's website shows that since 1903, the NRA has "promoted the sport of shooting" among teens to "instill gun safety" in youth.
There are many types of youth gun training programs, including competitions and safety classes.
Some gun manufacturing companies conduct crazy marketing for profit, which to a certain extent contributes to the atmosphere of violence in the United States.
According to Business Insider, an Illinois-based gun manufacturer even launched a miniature AR-15 rifle called the "JR-15" for children.
The manufacturer says the product is "smaller, safer and lighter" but "operates like a mom and dad's gun."
Gun manufacturers also use online games to promote gun sales.
A recent article in the "Washington Post" pointed out that former US gun industry executive Bass said that 20 years ago, marketers in the gun industry were worried about how to gain new market share. They hoped to open up new market segments and stay away from aging Older segments that are transformed, without increments.
After the Iraq War and the Afghanistan War broke out, first-person shooters began to rise.
At marketing planning sessions, gun industry figures discuss how to incorporate guns into a movie or video game.
The rise of the AR-15 rifle in the United States reflects a growing enthusiasm, at least by some, to bring overt military-style equipment to the civilian population.
The phenomenon of bullying in American schools is endless, and social security is deteriorating. These factors have also prompted some students to use guns to defend themselves.
"Stun guns and pepper spray are becoming as common as pencils and erasers," a teacher in New York City told the media.
New York City Police Department statistics show that the number of weapons brought to school by New York City students has soared by 80 percent since before the COVID-19 outbreak.
The seized weapons included pistols, knives, stun guns, pepper spray and more.
The New York Post described it as "an arms race in the nation's largest school system."
In addition, the "New York Times" analyzed that for teenagers, the age of 15 to 25 is a very dangerous "crossroads".
During this period, young men themselves are constantly changing, and they are also going through the "labor pains" of social pressure, which may lead them to violent crime.
Social media also plays a role in fueling juvenile gun violence.
Some of the shooters have posted videos of their crimes online, partly as an "incentive" to other would-be attackers.
In addition, in the Rob Elementary School shooting in Texas, the gunman posted his attack plan on the video platform Twitch before committing the crime. However, the police did not monitor such social media in a timely manner and failed to prevent the crime from happening as soon as possible.
Gun control, no solution in the political whirlpool
Vicious shootings are "one after another" in the United States, and children and teenagers in them are both victims and some become perpetrators.
On June 11, tens of thousands of demonstrators held rallies across the United States, demanding that Congress pass a gun control bill, calling on the government to "protect children, not guns."
Democratic Senator Murphy said on June 12 that a 20-member bipartisan group of senators had reached an agreement on tightening gun control laws.
However, a reporter from the Global Times combed through the contents of the bill and found that the above-mentioned agreement was nothing but a painless "reform", and there was no substantial improvement except for strengthening background checks and restrictions on gun buyers.
What makes gun control so difficult in the United States?
On the 14th, an American expert told the Global Times reporter that the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution supports citizens to hold guns, which is the fundamental reason why gun control has become a "big problem" in American society.
To solve the problem of gun control at the institutional level, the constitution must be amended, and constitutional amendment is usually difficult or impossible to achieve.
According to the "Voice of America" a few days ago, although the results of a public opinion poll released on May 25 this year showed that more than half of Americans supported legislation to tighten gun control, almost no one in the American political circles dared to mention the issue of a total gun ban.
The right to own a gun is a "sacred and inviolable" right of Americans, said Mabutt, president of the Montana Shooting Sports Association.
The above-mentioned experts told the Global Times reporter that the gun issue is not only a social issue in the United States, but also a highly politicized issue. Every presidential election or congressional election, the gun issue will become the focus of controversy between the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. The latter is opposed to guns, and the rivalry between the two parties makes it difficult for the government to take substantial gun control measures.
The domestic social, economic, political and other problems in the United States are complex, which has led to a serious tendency to violence at the entire social level in the United States. Some people want to solve the problem through guns on impulse.
In addition, the difficulty of gun control in the United States is also related to the violent law enforcement of domestic police.
The social impact of police shooting in law enforcement in the United States is more serious than the impact of conflict-based shooting at the societal level.
The BBC analyzed that interest groups such as the National Rifle Association of the United States have also continued to prevent the United States from passing legislation to control guns.
The association not only invests heavily in lobbying politicians, but also has 5 million members, and its power can affect the success or failure of politicians.
In addition, the biggest obstacle to passing gun control laws in the United States is that the attitude of those who oppose gun control is very firm, while the attitude of those who support gun control will fluctuate with the occurrence and subsidence of shooting cases.
The National Rifle Association of the United States also took advantage of this feature, resulting in continuous delays in the discussion of gun control bills, or even shelving.
After the Texas shooting, U.S. President Biden shouted: "It's time to act." But as early as 2017, the BBC stated that every time a gun sounds in the United States, calls for stronger gun control will follow. But after a period of time, these voices will be silenced, and the US government will not take any substantive measures to reduce gun violence. "These seem to have become a regular drama in American politics."