The ever-present gun violence in the United States has spared few places over the decades. It is estimated that there are some 120 of these lethal items per 100 citizens, according to the Swiss organisation Small Arms Survey.
A sad record: No other nation has more civilian firearms than people, something demonstrated in October 2020 in a poll by Gallup whose statistics remain broadly the same in 2024.
The data reveals that around 44% of adults in the United States live in a home with a firearm and approximately one-third of them own one personally. It is a sick society. On 25th June the United States Surgeon General, Dr Vivek Murthy, admitted in a historic announcement that gun violence constitutes a public health crisis which not only has a serious physical cost but also a mental one.
“Unfortunately, the problem has continued to grow”, warned Murthy, quoting the statistic that 54% of adults in the United States say that they or a member of their family have experienced a gun-related incident.
But the National Rifle Association (NRA), an organisation that defends the right to bear arms here, contests this statement.
For Randy Kozuch, executive director of the group’s Institute for Legislative Action, it is “an extension of the Biden administration’s war on law-abiding gun owners”.
Kozuch’s view is that what the United States has is “a crime problem caused by criminals” and the refusal to process and punish criminals “by President Biden and many of his allies is the principal cause of it. It’s a simple fact”.
But the presidential candidate Trump himself has made a show in his campaign of an agenda that foresees a strengthened version of his first term in matters such as the defence of firearms: “I promise you this: with me in 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, nobody will lay a finger on your guns, as was the case during the four years I was your president”.
Trump revealed that he will give stronger protection to the rights of the Second Amendment – which gives United States citizens the constitutional right to carry a gun – if he is re-elected in November.
It seems the gun environment has not led to anything good, even for its defender himself, Donald Trump. In fact, a shadow was cast over the presidential candidate’s campaign in the USA by armed violence and it is terrible to find out that the gunman at the former president’s rally in Pennsylvania was just 20 years old. The questions about Thomas Matthew Crooks and the easy access to the AR-style semi-automatic rifle that he used in the ex-leader’s rally are accompanied by questions over how it is possible for this society to have developed a culture based on violence.
The young man, whose photos and videos are emerging in local media, also had explosive material in his car and his home, said police sources.
A resident of Bethel Park, some 56 kilometres south of Butler where the Trump rally was being held, he graduated from Bethel Park High School in 2022 and was a registered republican according to a Pennsylvania electoral roll. It remains unknown what motivated him to open fire on the former president (2017 – 2021) just minutes after he had started his speech.
(Translated by Philip Walker – Email: philipwalkertranslation@gmail.com) – Photos: Pixabay
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