The “Gun Violence Epidemic” in America

Written by Josie Lee

Graphics by Mahak Saxena

President Biden has called for the US Senate to take “immediate action” following the recent mass shootings, which have sparked uproar across the country. Urging the passage of bills (including legislation for “increasing background checks” and “eliminating assault weapons”), President Biden addressed the nation last month in a broadcast following the tragic mass shooting in Boulder, Colorado which claimed the lives of ten people. As the world emerges from the restrictions imposed as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, a question is increasingly being asked by troubled Americans in the wake of this gun violence- is this what a return to normal looks like? Even more unfortunate is the answer to that question: in the first week of April 2021 alone, 23 people were killed in mass shootings in America, excluding an additional 50 people who were non-fatally injured. These are not isolated incidents, and sadly for the US, they are far from uncommon. A US male aged 15-24 is 70 times more likely to be killed with a gun than their European counterpart. Such shocking statistics are only a miniscule representation of a much larger “Public Health Epidemic”, so what is the reality of America’s gun violence problem, and what action needs to be taken in order to prevent it from worsening?

One important issue addressed by President Biden is the increasing threat posed by “ghost guns”. Earning their name from their lack of serial number, which makes them incredibly difficult to track and link to criminal activity, a “ghost gun” is the term used to refer to a typically homemade or improvised firearm. You may presume that such firearms are relatively uncommon, and hardly as deadly as professionally manufactured guns. However, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives reported that approximately 10,000 “ghost guns” were recovered across the country in 2019; a worryingly large amount considering the fact that 43% of guns used in crimes are obtained from the black market. More often than not, criminals favour “ghost guns” over state-regulated firearms as they are not only harder to trace but also remarkably cheap and easy to acquire. With no background check required for the purchasing of self-assembled gun kits, even those barred from the possession of firearms can find all the parts needed to manufacture a deadly weapon from just a few online searches. The result of this unamended loophole in government gun legislation has been catastrophic. In November 2019, a 16-year-old shot five of his classmates at Saugus High School in California- two of them fatally- using a homemade handgun, before fatally shooting himself. President Biden and Vice President Harris are not standing on the sidelines of this issue. On April 7th of this year, a report was published on the White House website specifying the government’s proposed actions to help stop the proliferation of “ghost guns”. Within 30 days, the Justice Department will issue a rule to combat this proliferation, although the details of the proposition remain unclear. Whether this action will be enough to directly confront America’s “ghost gun” crisis is certainly debatable. 

In his address, President Biden also recognized the necessity for federal amendments to “red flag” legislation. A “red flag” law is a gun control law that permits police or family members to petition a state court to order the temporary removal of firearms from a person who may present a danger to others or themselves. The importance of such legislation should be incontestable, however, only 19 states have thus far enacted some form of “red flag” law. The US is the only country in the world where the number of gun-related suicides is greater than the number of non-gun-related suicides, and the lack of government authority to intervene when an unstable person is in possession of a firearm which they could use to harm themselves significantly contributes to this. In addition, the risk of someone attempting suicide is 4.8 times greater if they are exposed to a firearm on a regular basis; for example, in the home. It therefore comes as no surprise that, according to a 2019 PBS NewsHour poll, 72% of Americans support the passage of federal “red flag” laws. Why is it then, that it has taken the government so long to carry out these wishes of the American people? This is a question which even President Biden, who throughout his political career has been a staunch supporter of these laws, cannot answer.

Finally, the threat which increased gun violence poses to the safety of schools, colleges and their respective pupils and faculties has been addressed by the President, who pledged that “we [the government] will take action to end our epidemic of gun violence and make our schools and communities safer”. According to USA Today, as of 2019, 95% of public schools in the US now have active shooter drills. While to many people this may seem a banal and predictable statistic, the reality that such extreme measures have become commonplace is a sad fact which should not be ignored. Furthermore, in 2019, Fruitport High School in Michigan became the first school in the US to be rebuilt with concrete barriers in hallways for students to hide from bullets. This remodel cost $48 million. $48 million which could have been spent on improving the quality of education received by the pupils rather than on improving their chances of survival in the event of a horrific, yet not improbable, gun attack. $48 million which has been labelled as the bare minimum budget for such renovations which should not have to be constructed in the first instance. $48 million which is the apparent cost of protection from an attack that could be so easily preventable if it weren’t for the inaction of administration after administration after administration. In the words of President Biden, “this is an epidemic for god’s sake, and it has to stop”.

Gun violence issues in the US aren’t just a concern of Americans’: they are a concern of humanity’s, and therefore a concern of every single person worldwide. They do not just pose a threat to America, they also pose a threat to humanity, and that is why it is vital that these issues are discussed not just in the US, but on a global scale too. On average, 106 people are killed every day by guns in America. Every day 106 people lose their life because we as a society have not condemned their murderer. As long as we continue to ignore this epidemic, that number will continue to increase. How many more people are going to have to die for us to realise that something needs to change? The actions of the government are not enough, the actions of the Senate are not enough; it takes the actions of every individual in America and across the globe to change this deadly gun culture. There are many global organisations to get involved in which advocate for tighter gun control laws. Within the US, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence aims to increase public awareness of gun violence and works to enforce both federal and state gun laws. Overseas, the global charity Amnesty International also provides an accessible platform for anyone outside the US who wishes to contribute to this cause. These are only two examples of the hundreds of associations and charities whose volunteers work tirelessly every day to make America a safer place for everybody. It takes the actions of one individual to end countless lives, but it takes the actions of every individual to prevent them from ever being lost.