【 World Theory 】 American Media: Firearms are a unique and persistent disease in the United States, deeply rooted in its politics, culture, and laws

On August 28th, China Daily reported that a white man in Jacksonville, northern Florida, USA, shot and killed three black people in a store before committing suicide. The governor of the state, Ron de Santis, stated that the shooting was "motivated by racism" and the gunman "targeted race".

On the 27th, NBC News reported that part of the reason for the frequent gun violence in the United States comes from the dark history of racism in this country. A comprehensive review conducted by the US government two years ago found that violent extremists motivated by race or ethnicity, especially those who promote white racial superiority, are one of the most persistent and deadly threats facing the United States.

Screenshot of NBC News Report

According to a report released by the American Anti Defamation Alliance in March this year, the organization recorded over 6700 propaganda and on-site activities by white supremacists last year, setting a new historical record. And, except for Hawaii, every state in the United States is filled with propaganda such as anti Semitism and racism.

However, racism is not the only reason for the escalating gun violence in the United States. In an article published on the 27th by the US VOX website, it was pointed out that firearms are a unique and persistent problem in the United States, and many factors that contribute to tragedies such as the Jacksonville shooting are deeply rooted in American politics, culture, and law.

Screenshot of VOX website review article

The article states that no high-income country in the world has such a high number of gun violence deaths as the United States. 120 Americans die at gunpoint every day, with an average of 43375 deaths per year. Since 2009, there have been an average of 19 shooting incidents in the United States that have resulted in at least 4 deaths per year. In addition, the gun related homicide rate in the United States is 26 times that of other high-income countries.

The article points out that gun control opponents always describe the problem of gun violence in the United States as a symptom of an increasingly widespread mental health crisis. But every country has people or extremists with mental health problems, and these problems are not unique to the United States. What is unique to the United States is that since the establishment of the country, the view of ordinary people owning firearms has been deeply rooted in politics, culture, and law, and the national political process cannot change it.

Although the US Congress reached an agreement on limited gun reform for the first time in nearly 30 years last year, recent shooting incidents have shown that narrow reforms cannot prevent large-scale shooting, highlighting the deep-rooted problem of gun violence in the United States.

Due to the lack of a nationwide database to register whether the public owns firearms, it is difficult to estimate the number of privately owned firearms in the United States. And without strong federal gun trafficking laws, the gun black market is thriving. The article states that the United States has many guns, and more guns mean more gun deaths.

The Swiss Small Arms Survey project previously estimated that there were approximately 390 million guns in circulation in the United States in 2018, equivalent to approximately 120.5 guns per 100 people, and this number will continue to rise in the following years. According to Gallup Consulting, a polling firm, by 2021, 42% of American households will own firearms.

Researchers have found a clear link between gun ownership and gun violence in the United States, and some believe there is a causal relationship between the two. For example, a 2013 study led by Boston University showed that for every one percentage point increase in household gun ownership, Massachusetts's gun related homicide rate would increase by 0.9%. A study by the gun control organization "Bring gun safety to every town" also shows that in states with weaker gun laws in the United States, gun related homicide and suicide rates are higher.

The article states that the association between gun deaths and gun ownership is much closer than the connection between violence and mental health issues. Duke University professor Jeffrey Swanson conducted research on policies to reduce gun violence. His research suggests that even if all forms of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression are potentially treatable, violent crime in the United States will only decrease by 4%.

In addition, with the push of American gun manufacturers and the National Rifle Association, there is still a common view that further arming is a way to prevent gun violence, known as the "good gun owners" theory. But Swanson pointed out that there is no evidence to support the theory that "we need more people to have more guns in more places so that we can protect ourselves".

The gun culture in the United States has made it even more difficult to explore policy solutions to gun violence after a large-scale shooting incident. In high-income countries without such a gun culture, large-scale shooting incidents often stimulate public support for gun control measures, but similar measures seem somewhat extreme by American standards.

Swanson criticized, "When other countries see this issue, they will say, 'It's too dangerous for people to walk around with handguns in the community, so we need to impose extensive restrictions on the legal means of holding firearms, with exceptions for those who may have sufficient reasons to hold firearms.' But here, our approach is exactly the opposite. We will say that according to the interpretation of the Second Amendment of the Constitution by the Supreme Court, everyone has the right to own firearms to protect themselves. We also try to make exceptions for those who are truly dangerous, but we are not sure what kind of people they are."

The article also points out that although most Americans support more gun control measures, pressure from gun lobbying groups and other sources has created significant obstacles. Professor Matthew Lacombe of Barnard College in the United States once stated in 2020 that many American politicians believe that supporting gun control is more likely to cost them votes than to help them win elections.