Written by Hubert Odias.

As the deadly violence rages in the United States, Nashville Presbyterian Covenant School was the latest shooting victim, a tragedy that reignited a public outcry about gun violence. 

In America, the proliferation of firearms is a big problem.  Crimes are rampant, and the deadly violence has become an incurable plague that permeates every fiber of the American society.  In the United States, 120 people die of gun violence every day.  As of late March of this year, the Gun Violence Archive has counted 131 mass shootings in this country. 

Some notorious cases of gun violence fatalities include Las Vegas, Nevada (58); Orlando, FL (49); Virginia Tech, Virginia (33); Sandy Hook, Connecticut (7); Presbyterian Covenant School (6).  Also, out of all the industrial countries in gun-related killings, the United States ranks higher with 79% of homicides. 

Lately, the shooter at Presbyterian Covenant School was a 28-year-old woman whom Nashville police identified as Audre Hale, an LGBTQ in psychiatric care.  The deadly drama went down like this: armed with three guns, she entered the school.  Then, mayhem ensued.  She shot and killed three 9-year-old students and three staff members.  In turn, the assailant received a similar fate at the hands of the police. 

Every mass shooting triggers public indignation and a new call for safety and gun control.  Gun is a touchy issue in the United States.  For example, the NRA (National Rifle Association) has a strong lobby in the U.S. Congress.  It is politically influential, and the double standard of those who undermine gun laws remains evident.  So 40000 people fall victim to gun violence in America while the gun industry amasses about $9 billion annually.

The failure of the passage of a gun reform law in the United States is due to a conflict of interest and the inability of the officials to reign in the violence.  The elected leaders for whom we cast our ballots have received financial support and endorsements from the gun industry. 

In reciprocity, politicians pledge allegiance to their financial backers and not to the people they swear to serve and protect.  In a quasi lawlessness atmosphere in America, the bloodshed is occurring unabated. 

The United States has a culture of guns and violence.  More people got killed by guns in the United States than those killed by terrorists in Syria or anywhere else.  It’s only in the United States where a school establishment is the least safe. The fact is simple.  Anyone 18 years or older can buy and own a firearm.  The Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution also guarantees the right of the people to keep and bear arms. So bad guys have capitalized.

Gun violence is also a societal cancer.  How can this cancer be eradicated?  Gun laws that would mitigate the daily rampage are long overdue.  How about the U.S. government regulating gun acquisition and the entire gun industry?  If inaction and passivity are the desired tools being used to combat gun violence, the United States is screwed. At last, after the carnage at the Presbyterian Covenant School, will peace, safety, law and order ever be restored in America?

“When a country with less than five percent of the world’s population has nearly half of the world’s privately owned guns and makes up nearly a third of the world’s mass shootings, it’s time to stop saying guns make us safer.” DaShanne Stokes

Source: House of Commons and Explore.