33 Crore Population and 37 Crore Guns, 36th Incident of Gun Culture in America in 1 Year

26th October, 2023, Thursday, Thursday

22 people have tragically died in the indiscriminate shooting incident in Lewiston, Maine. While more than 50 have been injured. This is the 36th incident of shooting in the United States this year, which means that an incident has been reported every 10 days. America has been troubled by gun culture for years. The increasing number of shootings has sparked concern. Over the past few decades, America has been plagued by a gun culture festering under the guise of free democracy and expression.

America's population is about 5 percent of the world's total population, but its share of firearms is 35 to 40 percent. According to the Gun Violence Archive, 58,581 people were killed by guns from 2014 to 2018. However, even in this, if we count those who commit suicide with licensed guns, the death toll goes higher. As in 2014, 21386 people committed suicide by shooting themselves in America.

According to the information received, in 2014, out of the total population of 320 million in the USA, the number of lethal weapons possessed by the police and citizens was around 37 million. Thus America has more guns per capita than people. America leads the world in gun usage per capita. Every 10th crime in America is related to gun firing. 90% of Americans own firearms.

Nowhere else in the world is so much reliance on guns for self-defense. It has become common to keep lethal weapons in beds, cupboards and even in shoe socks. Guns are a multi-billion dollar business in America. More than 5 million guns are produced every year, most of which are consumed in the United States. In the name of personal freedom and security, the hobby of carrying a weapon has entered into the rage in America like a drug. From the time a child turns 15 to 17 years old, he is introduced to arms. Due to this, hundreds of incidents of accidental injury of children, gun safety and parent counseling have become indispensable. .

Protests against the gun culture in America continue from time to time. Opponents argue that since America is so civilized, there seems little need for a gun culture. While America's powerful gun lobby has always supported carrying a gun for self-defense.

In which the name of the National Rifle Association comes first. One of his slogans is that guns don't kill anyone but men kill each other. As the number of members of this organization is more than 50 lakh, it also has a significant weight in politics. There were also allegations that the American Rifle Association (NRA) supported Trump to win the election.

On the one hand, the powerful gun lobby considers depriving the American people of firearms as a violation of the Constitution and human liberties. On the other hand, federal laws in the United States adopt strict rules for licensing, but state laws differ. Hence eradicating gun culture has become as tough as chewing iron gram. Former US President Barack Obama was an advocate of eradicating gun culture. During his tenure, efforts to tighten gun laws began after the Sandy Hook shooting in 2012 that killed 26 children.

However, the proposal to pass the Arms Act in the Senate failed. Republican Party leaders have been more opposed to gun ban legislation than Democrats. In 2019, the Never Again MSD movement created an air of anti-gun culture. Under its influence, more than 76 laws have been passed to curb the gun culture in different states. Although the gun purchase age has been raised to 21 in some states, there has been little progress in ridding American society of gun culture.