The 'Gun Culture' That Hurts America

After the June 30 attack targeting former President Donald Trump, the issue of guns has resurfaced. A 20-year-old man fired a semi-automatic 'AR-15' rifle at Trump during an election rally held in Pennsylvania. The bullet pierced the top of Trump's ear. One person died and two others were injured in the incident. The shooter, Thomas Crooks, was killed by security personnel.

According to the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), "shots were fired with the intention of killing former President Trump". Although Trump's life was spared in the attack, it has shaken American politics. Gun opponents have raised the voice of control. But its proponents call gun control a "violation of civil liberties and constitutional rights."

Thousands of people are killed each year in the United States in gun-related incidents. According to Johns Hopkins University, on average, someone is killed by a gun here every 11 minutes. 40,167 people died in gun-related incidents in the US last year alone. Among them, 1,306 are teenagers and 276 are children. According to the 'Gun Violence Archive', 22,506 people committed suicide using guns. In 2022, the number of such deaths was 48 thousand 117. 26 thousand 993 of them committed suicide. 19,592 were shot and killed. 472 were killed by accident and 649 by law enforcement. According to US media, Texas, California, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Illinois and Louisiana have the highest death rates.

In the past decade in America, only about five thousand people have died in shootings in public places such as schools, commercial buildings, concerts, and hospitals. Last year (2023) there were 656 shootings in public places alone. 597 people died in that incident. 390 people have been killed so far in 2024. 273 people have lost their lives in such attacks in 2014, 336 in 2015, 383 in 2016, 348 in 2017, 336 in 2018, 417 in 2019, 610 in 2020, 690 in 2021, 647 in 2022 and 746 in 2023. Among them, the 2017 attack in Las Vegas is the most devastating of the decade. In that shooting, 60 people were killed and 850 people were injured.

Weapons for sale at a store in Salem, Oregon. Photo: AP

The U.S. ranks first in the world in terms of the number of guns owned by the general public. According to the Small Arms Survey and Dana Pandas, the average 100 Americans own 120.5 guns. In second place, Yemen has 52.8 guns per 100 people, New Caledonia 42.5, Serbia 39.1, Montenegro 39.1, Uruguay and Canada 34.7, Cyprus 34, Finland 32.4, Lebanon 31.9 .

Some studies show that a majority of Americans favor gun control. According to a Gallup poll, 57 percent of Americans favor stricter gun laws. 32 percent of the participants in the survey said that the current law should be continued. 10 percent of Americans are in favor of further loosening of gun laws.

In a 2023 Pew Research Center survey, more than two-thirds of gun-owning Americans (71 percent) said they needed a gun for personal protection. According to a Gallup study, 91 percent of Democrats say tougher laws should be introduced. Only 24 percent of Republicans favor it.

According to a Pew study, about 4.5 million Americans currently own a gun. Americans buy more than half of the nearly 8 million guns produced in the world each year. In 2023, 5.5 million Americans bought a new gun. More than two-thirds of Republicans own a firearm, while 25 percent of Democrats also carry a gun. America sold 1 trillion 71 billion worth of weapons last year.

Despite various shootings, the National Rifle Association (NRA) has been lobbying in favor of gun ownership policies in the United States. The NRA has been spending huge sums of money to influence members of Congress for that. Because of this, attempts to pass laws for gun control have repeatedly been rejected in Congress. On top of that, some states seem to have made their own decisions in favor of having guns. For example, in 2021 Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued a law allowing citizens of the state to possess handguns without any license or training. Similarly, last April, Georgia also removed the requirement to obtain a permit to openly carry a firearm. Georgia is the 25th US state to eliminate such a provision.

Recently, some states have banned or restricted semi-automatic weapons. California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Washington, D.C. have banned semiautomatic weapons. Similarly, the states of Minnesota, Virginia, and Washington have regulated semi-automatic weapons but have not banned them.

No matter how loud the demand for gun control is, it cannot challenge America's 'constitutional rights'. The US Constitution guarantees the right to bear arms. But the constitution does not say anything about having automatic, semi-automatic or high capacity weapons. Some experts have said that this provision is the source of controversy. There has been a big change in the situation during the making of the constitution and in the present time. However, there are still differences of opinion in American politics.

Legislators from rural areas don't want to talk about gun control. That's mainly because rural America is biased toward gun rights. Democrats, who are in favor of not giving access to guns to the mentally unstable or those with terrorist thoughts, seem to be in favor of stricter and more regulated gun sales. But Republicans are against it. They say that since it is a constitutional right to buy a gun, citizens should be able to exercise their freedom. Likewise, fundamentalists maintain that gun culture is tied to the birth of America and should not be abandoned.

During the colonial period, the indigenous "Red Indians" of America were extinguished by the British with guns. In view of the possible intervention of the central government on the local militia while writing the American constitution, the right to bear arms was provided in the second article. With the adoption of the Bill of Rights on December 15, 1791, the United States declared the right to own a gun as a natural right. The right to bear arms is the same as freedom of speech, free press, freedom of religion and freedom of association.

Militias played an important role in America's War of Independence against Britain (1775–83). A group of ordinary people who took up arms to protect the community, the 'militia' was organized at the state level in 1776 with the independence of the United States. The main weapon carried by the militia at that time was the musket with a long shaft. The weapon could be fired three times a minute, with a range of 9 meters. The gun became a cultural identity of America at that time.

America officially recognized the country's constitution in 1788. James Madison, one of America's founding fathers, drafted the Second Amendment to the Constitution to strengthen militias in the provinces. It is provided that citizens can keep guns unconditionally. Until the early 1960s, there was no controversy over the provisions of the constitution. But after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, politicians including his brother Robert F. Kennedy who were running for the 1968 presidential election, the US Congress passed gun control laws.

The legislation, supported by Democrats and Republicans as well as the National Rifle Association (NRA), was introduced to regulate and control gun culture. But during the 1976 presidential election, Ronald Reagan argued that gun control would increase the central government's monopoly and infringe on individual liberties. Because of this, the Republican Party, which appeared in favor of gun control legislation at the 1972 party convention, turned against it in 1976. Since then, 'gun-culture' has become an important part of radical politics in America. On top of that, the NRA also began advocating for gun ownership. Formed in 1871 after the American Civil War, the NRA advocates for the right of Americans to bear arms. With 5.5 million members, the NRA is America's largest organization. The NRA, which collects $97 million a year in levies from its members, has also invested in pro-gun candidates in local and central elections.

In the recent increase in shootings, both concern and interest have been added to the incident. As the sale and distribution of guns has increased, the number of people killed by them has also increased. Despite four former presidents, Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield, William McKinley, and John F. Kennedy, millions of civilians have died prematurely because of guns, and the clamor for gun control continues. The main reasons for that are the politics of guns, their interpretation of business and culture.

(with help from agencies)