39 mass killings since the beginning of 2023.. Americans are wondering what to do?

WASHINGTON

- At least 7 Americans were killed in two shootings in the town of "Half Moon" by a man in his 60s last Monday, just two days after a 72-year-old man killed 11 people in the "Monterey Park" area.

One day earlier in the city of Auckland, one person was shot dead and 7 others were injured.

While investigators are working to determine the motives of these incidents, American society is in a state of shock amid repeated calls to stop armed violence and mass killings.

As usual, after the occurrence of these crimes, the United States witnesses the same controversy and takes the same traditional measures.

Where President Joe Biden ordered flags to be flown over government buildings for 3 days of mourning for the victims, then a war of words began between Republicans and Democrats over responsibility for these incidents, amid reminding American citizens of the power and influence of the "firearms companies' lobbies."

Representative Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas holds a copy of the United States Constitution in front of pictures of those killed in a mass shooting in the town of Uvalde (Reuters)

Mass killing continues

The Armed Violence Archive (GVA) defines a mass murder as a shooting that results in the injury or death of 4 or more people, not including the shooter.

From the beginning of 2023 until January 25, the United States witnessed at least 39 mass killings, an average of more than one incident every day.

FBI data indicate that the number of guns owned by Americans exceeds the number of citizens, by 120 guns for every 100 Americans.

A recent Gallup poll, conducted last October, indicated that about 45% of Americans live in a home with at least one handgun.

Last year, nearly 40,000 people were killed by firearms, according to the Center for Gun Violence Research at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

While a study published late last year by JAMA Network Open, which included an analysis of the number of firearms deaths in the past three decades, revealed that a total of more than one million Americans have been killed since 1990.

Efforts do not bear fruit

With every mass shooting in the United States, there are renewed calls for stronger policies to prevent more.

However, all of the legislation presented reduces accidents but does not prevent or impede the purchase of firearms.

And last June, after a massacre in an elementary school in Texas that killed 21 people, including 19 children, and before that 10 people were killed in an accident in a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, President Biden signed what was described as the most important federal law to regulate the carrying of weapons in United States during the last three decades.

Members of both the Republican and Democratic parties supported the law, which includes a package of measures that impose new restrictions on gun purchases, and allocates billions of dollars to fund the mental health and school safety sector.

However, the intense state of polarization between the two parties, in addition to the constitution's support for the right to bear and own weapons, makes it difficult to reach deterrent laws that can eliminate or reduce the phenomenon of mass killings with firearms.

President Biden called on Congress to speed up the enactment of two laws restricting the carrying of weapons in the United States (Reuters)

Restrictions proposed by Democrats and rejected by Republicans

The White House issued a statement on Monday about the shooting, which took place in the "Half Moon" area, south of San Francisco, California, describing it as a "senseless act of armed violence."

In the statement, President Joe Biden called on Congress to pass two bills seeking to ban assault weapons with a large storage capacity for bullets, and to raise the age of the right to purchase a gun to 21 years.

Indeed, Democrats Senator Dianne Feinstein of California and Senators Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut have introduced new legislation in the Senate related to this matter.

"Even as we await more details about these shootings, we know that the scourge of gun violence across America requires stronger action," Biden said.

"I once again urge both chambers of Congress to act quickly and bring the Assault Weapons Ban Act to my desk for signature, and take action to keep American communities, schools, workplaces, and homes safe," he added.

For their part, police chiefs in many states are calling for firearms to go through a similar registration and renewal process as car owners.

These leaders believe that passing through a licensing process for arms buyers will reduce illegal sales, update police data on the owners of these weapons, and ensure that these weapons are licensed and registered in police departments.

However, many constitutional jurists, especially the conservative ones, believe that this measure is considered a transgression and an infringement of the constitutional right to freedom of possession and carrying of firearms.

sacred constitutional right

The culture of gun ownership in America is unparalleled around the world.

For now, the deadly cycle of violence seems destined to continue unabated;

The US Constitution approved the possession of weapons as a right for citizens, and thus the United States becomes the only developed country in the world that allows its citizens to carry weapons in the streets, which is rooted in American culture.

And last June, the US Supreme Court approved allowing citizens to carry concealed and loaded pistols in public places, and the right-wing majority court overturned a law in the state of New York that restricts the carrying of firearms outside homes, and obliges them to prove their need for a license to carry it in public places.

On the other hand, hunting with firearms in the states of the American West is part of the cultural heritage and an important tool for managing wildlife and the agricultural and livestock economy.

At least 15 million Americans hunt, and they are among the most vocal supporters of the National Rifle Association, the strongest organization for the right to bear arms.

Americans legally purchase nearly 40 million firearms annually, according to FBI records, making it difficult for virtually any process to curtail the use or possession of firearms.