China News Service, Beijing, July 14 (Reporter Li Jingze) Recently, the gun violence incident that occurred during the "Independence Day" holiday in the United States has once again aroused the outside world's attention to the problem of gun victims in the United States.

According to statistics from the US "Gun Violence Archives" website, this year alone, about 21,000 people have lost their lives to gun violence in the United States, and 279 mass shootings have occurred in which at least 4 people were killed and injured.

　　Gun violence has become a shadow over the American people, posing a threat to the right to life.

What is the reason for the high incidence of gun violence in the United States?

Why is gun control so difficult in the US?

The reporter interviewed experts on relevant international issues.

On May 15, local time, the Orange County, California (Orange County) Police Department said that a shooting incident occurred at a local church, and several people were shot.

The picture shows law enforcement officers arriving at the scene of the shooting.

　　According to Diao Daming, a researcher at the National Institute of Development and Strategy of Renmin University of China, as the country with the most serious gun violence in the world, the gun problem in the United States is not only related to its history, culture and values, but also the result of the long-term intensification of many social conflicts.

Among many factors, the political polarization in the United States is particularly prominent.

　　Historically, the issue of gun control in the United States has undergone complex evolution.

In 1791, the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed, giving citizens the right to own guns for more than 200 years.

Since the passage of the first federal legislation on gun control in 1927, the Firearms by Mail Act, the debate about gun control has never ceased.

　　Gun control is one of the representative political issues of the bipartisan struggle in the United States. With the increasing political polarization in the United States, the attitudes of the voters of the Democratic and Republican parties towards guns are increasingly opposed. 76% of the voters in the Republican Party defend the right to own guns, and 81% of the voters in the Democratic Party defend the right to own guns. Voters think gun control is more important.

On June 1, local time, a shooting occurred at a hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. Police confirmed that a total of 5 people, including the gunman, were killed. This is already the 233rd mass shooting incident in the United States in 2022.

The picture shows the St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA, rescue workers and police arrive at the scene.

　　No major gun control legislation has been passed in the United States in more than two decades due to severe bipartisanship.

In the past 10 years, Democratic congressmen have proposed bills on gun violence and gun control every year, but under the obstruction of Republican members, only a handful of them have successfully entered the deliberation and debate of the Senate or the House of Representatives.

　　Diao Daming believes that such a situation is inseparable from the ties between interest groups and politicians.

Some observers have analyzed that once the gun is controlled, the most direct damage is to the interests of the US military-industrial group.

Therefore, gun associations such as the National Rifle Association (NRA) and the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), as the spokespersons of the military-industrial group, spare no effort to influence legislation and influence elections through lobbying and political donations.

　　Since 1998, gun associations have spent $190 million on lobbying, according to Open Secrets.

In 2021, gun association lobbying costs hit an all-time high of $15.8 million.

Statistics show that 99 percent of political donations from gun associations go to Republicans.

　　"On the complex issue of gun control, the two parties in the United States have both black-and-white confrontation and a compromise that is difficult to compromise." Diao Daming believes that in the foreseeable future, the political polarization of the United States will undoubtedly make control The issue of guns has been repeatedly torn up by various forces. Even if there are some bills, there is a high probability that, like the gun control bill recently proposed by the Biden administration, it is just scratching the surface and cannot fundamentally solve the problem.

　　This means that there is a high probability that the gunfire will not stop, and the American people will continue to face death and pain.

Dai Ruijun, a researcher at the Institute of International Law of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and director of the International Human Rights Law Research Office, said that defending people's right to life is the primary goal of all governments committed to protecting human rights.

America's laissez-faire approach to the gun problem poses a serious threat to public safety and personal life, and even contributes to massive human rights violations caused by gun violence crimes.

　　What is more important to note is that, in addition to the serious threat to the right to life, at a time when the new crown pneumonia epidemic has exacerbated a series of social problems in the United States, gun violence has become a "catharsis" for issues such as racial hatred, which is reflecting a series of systems such as the expansion of racial rifts. sexual abuse.

Dai Ruijun said that this is no longer the result of some individuals violating the law, but the result of institutional arrangements and the operation of existing laws or policies, which fully shows that human rights are being systematically violated in the United States.

On May 26, local time, at a market in Uvalde, Texas, people saw the front page of a newspaper with a black front page showing the date of the shooting at an elementary school in the state.

A shooting at an elementary school in Uvaldi on May 24 killed 21 people, including 19 children.

　　However, facing its own huge human rights deficit, US politicians are busy updating the so-called country reports on human rights, making irresponsible remarks about the human rights situation of other countries.

　　"Actually, the United States doesn't care about the human rights situation of other countries at all. Since the 1970s, it has linked 'human rights' with foreign policy and politicized the issue of human rights." Dai Ruijun pointed out that human rights have completely become the focus of the United States' internal diversion. It is a tool for external realization of political goals and political suppression of other countries.

　　But no matter how to cover up and divert the topic, it can't cover up the difficult reality of the gun crisis in the United States.

A single shot shattered the so-called illusion in the United States that "everyone enjoys inalienable freedom", and also exposed the American-style human rights grief in front of the world.

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