China Daily, February 21. According to a report on the USA Today website on the 18th, affected by the increasingly serious problem of gun violence, more and more travelers are reluctant to travel to the United States due to concerns about safety. Its popularity gradually declined.

Screenshot of USA Today website report

　　According to a recent study by the US Travel Association and EuroMonitor International, the number of tourists in the United States will decrease by 12 million in 2023 compared with 2019. In addition, the United States fell four spots in the World Economic Forum's (WEF) Security Index from 2019 to 2021 due to a lack of reliability in police services and external fears about gun violence.

　　Geoff Freeman, president and CEO of the U.S. Travel Association, said in an interview with USA Today: "There is no doubt that safety is a very important issue for all travelers. "

　　A woman named Uneaka Daniels told USA Today about her experience in the United States in 2019. She was on her way to the barber shop and asked pedestrians for directions. Suddenly people began to take cover. It turned out that there was a drive-by shooting on the street.

　　"I could actually see the gun and see the bullets coming out of the gun," she said. "People on the street acted like nothing happened, and I crouched down behind a tree and tried to hide. I asked ( The passerby asked, "Aren't you afraid?" But he said, "This kind of thing happens all the time."

　　The last time Daniels went to the United States was in 2023, and he had to go because he needed surgery. During her recovery, she went to the park opposite the hotel to bask in the sun, but the people around her made her feel uncomfortable. She felt these people were rude and some asked her for money. "This is outrageous," Daniels said.

　　Mass shootings and an increase in homelessness made Daniels lose interest in traveling to the United States. "The things you see on the American news are really horrific," she said. According to reports, there are many people who have the same idea as Daniels. Not everyone wants to come to the U.S. Gun violence and concerns about safety keep travelers away.

　　Ivan Kralj from Croatia loves traveling, but he has not been to the United States yet. One of the reasons is because of the loose gun laws in some areas of the United States. According to Euronews, the per capita gun ownership rate in the United States is more than three times that of the country with the highest per capita gun ownership rate in Europe.

　　Krach said he has heard of an extremely high frequency of firearms being seized at Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoints, a problem that is becoming increasingly common at U.S. airports. In 2023, TSA seized 6,737 guns at airport security checkpoints across the United States, setting a record high, and as many as 93% of the guns were loaded.

　　"USA Today" pointed out that gun violence is a very urgent problem in the United States. According to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, the United States ranks first in the number of gun homicides among high-income countries with a population of more than 10 million. The age-adjusted gun homicide rate in the United States is 19 times that of France and 77 times that of Germany.

　　"In my opinion, America's open political attitude toward (individual) gun ownership is the strangest thing about this country," Krach said. "We're not used to walking around with weapons or seeing other people with guns."

　　According to a mass shooting database from USA Today, Northeastern University and The Associated Press, 2023 is the year with the most mass shootings in the United States since the database began tracking such incidents in 2006. . In addition, data from the non-profit organization Gun Violence Archive shows that in just the past six weeks of 2024, 44 mass shootings have occurred in the United States, resulting in 75 deaths and 140 injuries.

　　Daniels traveled abroad to England and Paris with her partner in 2020. She felt safe whether she was alone on the street during the day or together at night. "It's totally different from what it feels like in America, where I'm not afraid of guns," she said.

　　(Compiler: Gao Linlin Editor: Nisina Han He)