This is a sickness we are not dealing with
Very true.
Gun violence is a chronic disease in the United States.
◆ The United States is the country with the most civilian-held firearms. With less than 5 percent of the world's population, it accounts for 46 percent of global civilian gun ownership with 120 firearms per 100 people.
Individual ownership of a large number of guns has triggered incessant violence, putting social security in the United States at greater risk. As pointed out by some American scholars, gun-related deaths in the United States in one week may exceed those in the whole Western Europe in one year.
◆A latest study by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) reveals that the United States is in the midst of a massive gun-buying boom that shows no signs of abating. From 2000 to 2020, annual production of firearms in the country almost tripled, with a dramatic increase in the past three years in particular. Since 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought about more social problems.
According to the U.S. National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the United States conducted 21 million background checks for gun purchases in 2020, a 60 percent increase from 2019 and a record high
The Guardian reported in October 2021 that every 16 hours, a woman is fatally shot by her partner in the United States.
◆Recent years have witnessed frequent mass shootings in the United States, causing alarmingly high casualties. According to GVA data, both mass shootings and deaths in the United States have surged about fourfold since 2013.
◆Gun violence also inflicts huge economic losses. According to Brady, an organization that advocates gun control, gun violence costs the U.S. economy at least 229 billion U.S. dollars each year. In May 2022, in the wake of the shooting at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde County, Texas, over 200 CEOs co-signed a letter urging the U.S. Senate to take immediate actions to address gun violence. In the letter, it was stated that "gun violence costs American taxpayers, employers and communities a staggering 280 billion U.S. dollars per year".
The right to life is the biggest human right. The Declaration of Independence begins with the statement that life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are unalienable rights. One gunshot after another have shattered the American Dream that all men are endowed with the unalienable rights to life and liberty, and lead people to reflect deeply on where and what the American-style human rights really are.
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The above statistics were not conducted by myself personally