Gun violence in US: Gunshots, screams and chaos marred former US President Donald Trump's campaign rally in Pennsylvania as a 20-year-old man targeted the 78-year-old Republican presidential candidate in an assassination attempt that has rocked American politics and once again turned the spotlight on the heavily debated gun laws of the country. Trump narrowly avoided death as a bullet from a semi-automatic rifle grazed past his ear in the first targeted killing attempt on a US president since 1981.
It is widely known that at least four US presidents have been assassinated and several former presidents and presidential candidates have faced assassination attempts. What is even more puzzling is that the US seems unable to handle the issue of gun violence, which has plagued the American public for years and has kept the numbers of mass shootings on a perpetual high.
While US President Joe Biden has promised to impose stricter gun laws to curb mass violence, it is Trump himself who has promised to reinforce the Second Amendment of the US Constitution by removing all restrictions on the possession and ownership of weapons. The issue of gun ownership and violence has been another element of the deep polarisation that has engulfed America and eventually led to an attempt on Trump's life.
Gun violence in the United States
A report by Axios cited data from the Gun Violence Archive (GVA) in showing that the US is on course to witness a drop in the incidents of gun violence in 2024, but the country is still averaging over one mass shooting every day and could break over 500 mass shootings for the fifth year in a row. As of July 2, at least 277 people have been killed and 1,132 people injured due to mass shootings.
In most of the United States, it is quite easy for individuals to carry firearms, as enshrined in the Second Amendment of the US Constitution. As a result, almost one in every three people in the US owns a gun. The Pew Research states that four people out of 10 live in a household with a gun. As many as 25 states allow gun owners to carry concealed firearms in public places.
What is more poignant in understanding the issue of gun violence is that except for 12 states, there are no restrictions in purchasing guns from a federally authorised dealer. Despite restrictions such as background checks, it has been seen in most cases of gun violence that even individuals with suspicious backgrounds can easily avail firearms.
What do people think about gun laws?
Gun laws have become a serious issue in the US due to the rising cases of violence. In a landmark decision in 2008, the US Supreme Court held that self-defence was a crucial component in the Second Amendment, ratified by the makers of the Constitution, and therefore the right of citizens to bear arms. Many have advocated a stronger policy on the use of guns, yet much of the discussion has failed to produce results despite an uptick in gun violence-related deaths.
A Pew Research report last year revealed that more than 32 per cent of people own a firearm. At least six in ten adults (60 per cent) say gun violence is becoming a major problem in the country, while 13 per cent say it's a problem and four per cent believe it is not a problem at all. Over 62 per cent of Americans say they expect the level of gun violence to increase over the next five years.
On top of that, about 58 per cent of people support stricter gun laws, while 26 per cent say the laws are about right and 15 per cent favour further relaxation in the laws. The report further revealed that a majority of people thought it was too easy to obtain a gun due to the relaxed laws in America. Despite a broad agreement on strict gun laws, the US has failed to curb easy access to firearms.
The failure to act on firearm possession lies in the complexity of people's views on gun laws. At least 79 per cent of Republicans say gun ownership increases their safety, while an identical share of Democrats (78 per cent) say that it in fact reduces safety. The matter further gets complicated as 81 per cent of people say owning guns makes them feel safer, while only 12 per cent worry about a firearm possession. While both sides agree on some aspects of gun access, they also hold widely divergent views on issues like carrying concealed guns and bans on specific weapons.
More guns in America than people!
A report by the Small Arms Survey in 2018 claimed that there are 326 million people and 393 million guns in the United States, which means that every man, woman and child can own one and there would still be 67 million guns left in the country. Alarmingly, America made 4 per cent of the global population in 2017 yet had about 46 per cent of the entire global stock of civilian firearms.
In short, America is overflowing with guns and there are strong opinions about their possession. Additionally, Pennsylvania, the state where Trump was shot at, is ranked 16th in the nation for the strength of its gun-control laws by advocacy group Giffords Law Centre, with several attempts for stricter gun laws thwarted. It is ironic that an attempt was made to shoot and kill a presidential candidate who advocates for an open gun policy in a state overflowing with guns.
US President Joe Biden has made a series of proposals about bringing in tighter gun laws, even though his own son was convicted of lying about his drug use to illegally buy a gun. In April, the Biden administration announced a new rule for reducing the number of firearms sold without background checks. He also passed a law in 2022 to expand background checks by signing into law the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. The President has also called for banning assault weapons, that have been widely opposed by Republicans.
However, with a looming polarised climate and Biden's political problems that are slowly paving the way for the return of Trump to the White House, it is unlikely that the gun laws debate will be extinguished any time soon.
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