Gun violence takes a wretched toll on America, but does anyone care?

In the US, they say: ‘You can die for your country at 18; but you cannot buy a six-pack of beer until you are 21’.

On the same pitch, there are some states where you can buy a hunting rifle at the age of 16, but you cannot buy cigarettes until you are 18. All these sayings are heard every time a shooting tragedy unfolds. Just a few days ago, a young gunman, Salvador Ramos, walked into the fourth grade of an Elementary School and emptied his AR (Armalite Rifle) 15 clip, killing 19 children who were getting ready for their summer break. The AR 15 is the civilian equivalent of the military issue M-16 and is said to cost around US$ 1000.

Also Read: US mass shooting: Here’s a look at how attackers manage to obtain guns

Prior to this carnage, it is believed that this young shooter, who had turned 18 a few days back, killed his grandmother and one more person, bringing his grand tally to 21 deaths before police gunned him down.

Immediately after this carnage, in a small hamlet of Texas located an hour away from the border with Mexico, all eyes were on the Lone Star state and its permissive laws where it was not possible to purchase a handgun but one can buy an assault rifle with necessary carbines. And apparently, the killer had with him not only the AR-15 but also a rifle as he entered Robb Elementary School in Uvalade, Texas, a small institution that caters to mostly economically disadvantaged children.

It will be many months before the actual motive of the killer comes to light, but right now politicians and activists of different hues are simply aghast at the turn of events and the sickening statistics that are coming out in a developed country like the US. The incident in Texas is said to be the 27th mass shooting at schools in just five months this year. According to a media report, citing Gun Violence Archive, there have been 212 mass shootings (four or more people are killed) this year.

It is pertinent to note that though mass shootings capture public attention, they are only a small fraction of all homicides that take place in the United States. In 2019, about 10,200 people were murdered using guns; in 2020 about 24,000 committed suicide using firearms. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) points out that in a typical year between 14,000 to 15,000 people are murdered in America, of this between 9,000 and 11,000 are killed using guns.

There is no precise number of weapons floating around in the US, although one estimate puts it closer to more than 500 million (50 crore) pieces. According to published data from Small Arms Survey, in the United States there are 120.5 firearms in civilian possession for every 100 residents. Compare this to 34.7 for Canada; 4.6 in Britain; 19.6 in Germany and a mere 0.3 for Japan which is said to have some of the most stringent laws for buying and retaining weapons.

Unfortunately, a political pitch is raised only when mass killings happen at schools, involving children or for that matter even at an institution of higher learning like the Virginia Tech where more than 30 students (including two from India), and faculty, were shot in 2007. The question is of relative ease with which people acquire guns—handguns and ‘long’ guns or rifles and the loose distinctions made as to whether a weapon was procured from a store that would have to go through a formal vetting process;  get a weapon of your choice from a travelling gun show that has little to no restrictions; or a private sale involving perhaps a neighbour or a friend.

What has really appalled the anti-gun activists is that people, including children, are able to walk away with deadly assault weapons like the AR-15 and AK-47s that clearly belong not on the streets but on battlefields. But the real culprits are handguns that account for about 90 per cent of all the killings in the US, law enforcement agencies say. Except for some cities like New York, Washington DC and Chicago that are governed by tough laws and procedures, by and large the laws in the United States allow for purchase of assault rifles and shotguns from the age of 18; handguns at 21 with some states allowing purchase of guns at the age of 16 like Alaska and 17 years in Louisiana.

States have gone about their own ways and not necessarily sticking to the 21 years old stipulation of the federal government. Advocacy groups say that states like Texas, Ohio, Wyoming, Montana, New Hampshire and Maine have just about no age restrictions on who can possess a handgun or a long gun; there are states with a stricter 21-year limitation like Illinois, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, state of Washington and the District of Colombia, to mention a few. The exceptions to purchases, for example, would be fugitives, convicted felons, those with mental issues, undocumented aliens, those accused of domestic violence etc. The legal avenues aside, state and federal authorities are quite aware of the flourishing black market involving guns. And more frightening in an internet age is the ability of anyone to purchase a kit—of the so-called buy, build, shoot variety.

Also Read: Amid COVID and economic crunch, bad and good news from China

“As a nation, we have to ask when in God’s name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby? When in God’s name will we do what we all know in our gut needs to be done?” President Joseph Biden said. “It’s been 3,448 days — 10 years — since I stood up at… a grade school in Connecticut where another gunman massacred 26 people including 20 first graders at the Sandy Hook Elementary School. Since then, there have been over 900 incidents of gunfire reported on school grounds,” Biden added, stressing that he is “sick and tired” and it was time to act. But after having been in the hallways of Congress for close to four decades, Biden knows better—that it is not easy to take on the gun lobby that has deep pockets.

From time immemorial, the National Rifle Association and other gun advocacy groups have been in the forefront of leading the charge for the right to bear arms as part of the Second Amendment. The problem, as judicial experts have pointed out, is that the gun lobby focuses only on what it wants to in the Second Amendment, conveniently leaving out a full reading. “… a well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”

For a long time, the highest court paid serious attention to the first part of the amendment; and it was not until 2008 that the Supreme Court by a 5 to 4 vote reinforced the notion the Second Amendment gave rights to an individual to bear arms.

Successive administrations have been frustrated at the inability to move forward at the federal level and legislatively at that; and President Biden is not going to be an exception. The conservatives in the Grand Old Party (Republican) are once again gearing up for a major fight on Capitol Hill; and with lobby groups like the NRA handing out Grades—from A+ to F—and supporting candidates that are amenable and pliable, President Biden and Democrats are going to have an uphill battle. And if present indications of how the outcome of the midterms of November 8 is anything to go by, precious little can be expected on controlling gun violence and handguns.

(The writer is a former senior journalist in Washington covering North America and the United Nations)