By It’s been less than two months into the year and so far, there’s been 67 mass shootings across the United States. The violence, death and injuries from gun violence is something that’s become part of life in America and at this point, we’ve become desensitized to the shootings.
Other developed nations in the world don’t live like this. The rate of gun homicides in the U.S. is eight times higher than it is in Canada, 13 times higher than it is in France, and 23 times higher than in Australia.
An elementary school. A grocery store. A theater. A place of worship. A nightclub. A dance hall.
The victims of these horrific acts were in a place where they were supposed to feel safe and secure going about their normal day. But we’ve seen how quickly everyday citizens become just another headline in the news without any real gun reform by lawmakers.
How do you think the victims’ families feel? Knowing that despite the ongoing death, the federal government still can’t bring about any real change for Americans to feel safe in 2023.
Americans have always claimed guns – it’s woven into the Bill of Rights as the 2nd Amendment – and yet the government hasn’t claimed a monopoly on them to reduce the unnecessary mass casualties.
Why is that? Well probably because the NRA spends millions every year to keep a tight grip on lawmakers.
Right-wing politicians frame the problem as a mental health issue. Other developed nations take on other tactics which our politicians just can’t bring themselves to propose. Congress did reach a deal in 2022 on limited gun reform but with the recent shootings in California, it’s clear that gun violence is embedded much deeper in the US.
In 2020, Canada banned military-style assault weapons two weeks after a mass shooting in Nova Scotia. In 2019, New Zealand lawmakers passed a gun buyback scheme, as well as restrictions on AR-15s and other semiautomatic weapons, and they later established a firearms registry less than a month after the Christchurch massacre.
The second amendment was established at a time when a gun didn’t shoot 45 rounds in one minute. It’s outdated and our lawmakers need to understand that people in this country are tired of waking up to the news of another mass shooting.
As a news and media publication, we aim to create discourse and influence the debate about the gun violence epidemic. We hope the community understands, in our reporting about the topic, not just the incident, but the broader issue that the response to mass shootings must be prioritized by lawmakers.
America has a problem. It is that the nation continually fails to address gun violence and with no clear strategy or plan in sight.
Such a shame that this is who we are as a country.
