INSANITY, an old age says, is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.
“Pag gusto, may paraan. Pag ayaw, may dahilan” (If you want something done, you will always find a way. But if you refuse to do what needs to be done, you will always find an excuse), is a Tagalog saying that sums up where we are in this national crisis.
These sayings come to mind as again I write about gun violence in the United States for the nth time, following another mass shooting in the United States that killed 10 people in Boulder, Colorado on March 22, just six days after the senseless killing of eight, six of who were Asians, in Atlanta, Georgia on March 16.
Have we become desensitized to gun violence in the United States? Guns continue to kill 38,000 people in the United States every year, or about 100 every single day, the Giffords Law Center reported.
The Giffords Law Center further stated these painful facts that reveal how insane our country’s approach has been to gun violence:
• America has the weakest gun laws and the most guns — 393 million — of any comparable nation.
• The U.S. accounts for just 4% of the world’s population but 35% of global firearm suicides. Americans are 25 times more likely to be killed in a gun homicide than people in other high-income countries.
• Nearly every American will know at least one victim of gun violence in their lifetime.
• Over 1 million Americans have been shot in the past decade, and gun violence rates are rising across the country
• In 2017, gun deaths reached their highest level in at least 40 years, with 39,773 deaths that year alone.
• Suicides, homicides, police shootings—gun violence takes many forms, often dictated by who and where you are.
• Gun access triples suicide risk. The majority of suicides – 51 percent – involve a gun.
• Gun homicide has a disproportionate impact on underserved communities of color in American cities.
• Roughly half of all gun homicides take place in just 127 cities comprising less than a quarter of the total U.S. population.
• Black men make up 52% of all gun homicide victims in the U.S., despite comprising less than 7% of the population.
• Unarmed Black civilians are five times more likely to be shot and killed by police than unarmed white civilians.
• Domestic violence victims are five times more likely to be killed when their abuser has access to a gun. Nearly 1 million women alive today report being shot or shot at by an intimate partner.
• Women in the United States are 21 times more likely to be killed with a gun than women in other high-income countries.
• 3 million children are directly exposed to gun violence each year, resulting in death, injury, and lasting trauma.
And yet, tragedy after tragedy, the lawmakers of this nation do NOTHING to really address this crisis, other than offering “thoughts and prayers” to the victims and their bereaved family.
This inaction comes even as facts and data show just how active mass shootings have escalated in recent years involving the use of assault rifles and high-powered magazines by civilians, weapons intended to be used in war zones only.
The powerful and moneyed gun lobbyist, the National Rifle Association (NRA), would always have the last laugh after each tragedy and litany of “thoughts and prayers” because nothing would happen to change gun laws significantly to make a difference.
The NRA has infused a lot of campaign contributions to former President Donald Trump, and mostly to Republicans in the past years. The NRA used to be much more bipartisan, but now it’s mostly just a wing of the Republican Party, as most of its supporters identify with it, according to a report by CNN.
The New York Times reported that just the last five years, there have been at least 29 shootings with four or more fatalities, based on the data compiled by the Violence Project.
Among them:
March 16, 2020: A gas station in Springfield, Missouri
Aug. 31, 2019: Drive-by shootings in Midland and Odessa, Texas
Aug. 4, 2019: An entertainment district in Dayton, Ohio
Aug. 3, 2019: A Walmart in El Paso, Texas
July 28, 2019: A festival in Gilroy, California
May 31, 2019: An office in Virginia Beach, Virginia
Nov. 7, 2018: A bar in Thousand Oaks, California
Oct. 27, 2018: A synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
June 28, 2018: A newsroom in Annapolis, Maryland
May 18, 2018: A high school in Santa Fe, Texas
Feb. 14, 2018: A high school in Parkland, Florida
Nov. 5, 2017: A church in Sutherland Springs, Texas
Oct. 1, 2017: A concert in Las Vegas
Jan. 6, 2017: An airport in Fort Lauderdale, Florida
July 7, 2016: Downtown Dallas, Texas
June 12, 2016: The Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida
Many more were allowed to happen before that. The Times chronicled: “the San Bernardino, Calif., and Charleston, S.C., in 2015; Newtown, Conn., and Aurora, Colo., in 2012; Virginia Tech in 2007, among them.”
“Each new attack is a reminder of all of the others that came before it, as the nation has been unable to curb an epidemic of gun violence that far outpaces other countries. These are just some of the horrors that have traumatized the nation,” the Times reported.
Following a shooting that left 10 people dead in Boulder, Colorado, Robyn Thomas, Giffords Law Center’s executive director, testified on Tuesday, March 23 in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee to demand action on a gun safety agenda.
As the Giffords Law Center reported, “Some of the proposals she highlighted include universal background checks, prohibiting gun possession by those convicted of domestic violence crimes, waiting periods, and enacting extreme risk protection orders.”
“Our gun violence crisis is a uniquely American problem,” said Robyn Thomas said in her opening statement. “It’s a problem that plagues our country in countless different ways and exacts a devastating toll on our communities. But it’s a problem with solutions. While one single law will never stop all gun violence, we know strong gun laws save lives.”
The Giffords Law Center pointed out that earlier this March, “the House passed H.R. 8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act, with bipartisan support. Neither H.R. 8 nor its Senate companion legislation, S. 529, the Background Checks Expansion Act, has yet been considered in the Senate. The Senate hearing was an important step in moving forward with meaningful gun safety reforms.”
WHAT ARE THEY WAITING FOR?
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The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Asian Journal, its management, editorial board and staff.
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Gel Santos Relos has been in news, talk, public service and educational broadcasting since 1989 with ABS-CBN and is now serving the Filipino audience using different platforms, including digital broadcasting, and print, and is working on a new public service program for the community. You may contact her through email at [email protected], or send her a message via Facebook at Facebook.com/Gel.Santos.Relos.
