16th September 2023 – (Washington) According to a recent opinion piece in Gulf News, an English newspaper based in the United Arab Emirates, the first eight months of 2023 witnessed a staggering 470 mass shootings in the United States, leading to the tragic loss of over 25,000 lives due to gun violence.
The article, published on Thursday, revealed a harrowing statistic that an average of 22 children aged 17 and under are shot on a daily basis. These victims predominantly comprise fatalities resulting from shootings, including both intentional acts and accidents, as well as deaths by suicide.
The Gulf News opinion piece drew attention to the distressing reality faced by Americans, where sending a child to school does not come with the guarantee of their safe return. It criticized the country’s gun culture, highlighting that it empowers those who pose a threat to public safety. The article emphasized that a society that allows a license to kill undermines the building of dreams and a secure future.
The deeply ingrained nature of the constitutional right to bear arms in the United States was also addressed in the piece. It argued that this cultural acceptance of firearms has become so deeply entrenched that even the daily occurrence of children being shot fails to prompt meaningful change in the status quo.
Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, in an interview with CNN, acknowledged the grim reality of the situation, stating that “this is the only country in the world where men who are having breaks with reality exorcise their demons through mass slaughter.”
Gun violence has long been a divisive and deadly issue within American society. According to the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, deaths resulting from gun-related injuries have been on the rise since 2004, with 2021 marking a record high of 48,830 fatalities.