Drastic Measures To Curtail US Gun Crime

Published in Tokyo Shimbun
(Japan) on 26 December 2022
by (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Dorothy Phoenix. Edited by Lisa Attanasio.
Thirty years have passed since the 1992 shooting death of 16-year-old Yoshihiro Hattori, a Japanese student studying in the U.S. Instead of the U.S.’ gun problem improving, the number of gun-related crimes has continued to increase at an even worse pace. It must be checked with drastic gun laws.

This November, over the course of 10 days, there were a succession of shooting incidents at universities, nightclubs and supermarkets, collectively resulting in dozens of casualties.

Among these incidents, a highly lethal AR-15 rifle was used during a random shooting in western Colorado at an LGBT nightclub, killing five people. Semiautomatic guns were a familiar culprit in more than 600 random shooting incidents over the course of the year.

In recent years, the number of gun-related deaths, including suicides, has surpassed 40,000 annually. According to a summary from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, in 2021 the number increased by 8% to over 47,000 deaths (a record high), and in 2022 as well, that total surpassed 40,000. It has been pointed out that the backdrop to this situation is an increase in social and economic anxiety because of COVID-19.

The U.S. is a society flooded with 400 million guns, even more guns than the population. Gun sales have increased each time mass shootings have occurred. People rush to protect themselves as law and order deteriorates.

Business is brisk for the small arms industry, and according to the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, in 2020, 1.3 million firearms were manufactured, a number which has nearly tripled over 20 years.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a New York state law regulating the right to carry arms violated the U.S. Constitution.

The law is protected by a constitutional clause that guarantees the right to maintain guns for the sake of self-defense, but it must be said that the ruling treats the clause as a hard-and-fast rule that does not take into account the grave reality of gun crimes.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Congress passed, and U.S. President Joe Biden signed into law, a gun regulation bill centered on stricter identification requirements for gun buyers under the age of 21.

It was the first time in 28 years that any gun law has passed. It is a step forward, but it does not go as far as banning the sale of highly lethal firearms such as the AR-15.

We hope that the U.S. will become aware of how abnormal its gun politics are and make efforts to reform.


米国の銃犯罪 抜本的規制で歯止めを

一九九二年に米国留学中の服部剛丈(よしひろ)さん=当時(16)=が射殺された事件から三十年が経過した。米国の銃問題は改善するどころか、銃絡みの犯罪件数は最悪のペースを続けている。抜本的な銃規制で歯止めをかける必要がある。
 この十一月には十日の間に大学、ナイトクラブ、スーパーマーケットで立て続けに銃撃事件が起き、合わせて数十人が死傷した。
 このうち西部コロラド州の性的少数者(LGBT)向けのナイトクラブで五人が死亡した乱射事件で使われたのは、殺傷能力の高いライフル「AR15」だ。年間六百件以上起きる乱射事件ではおなじみの半自動小銃である。
 近年、自殺を含めた銃による死亡者は毎年四万人を超える。米疾病対策センター(CDC)のまとめでは、二〇二一年は前年より8%増えて四万七千人余と過去最多を記録し、今年も四万人を突破した。コロナ禍がもたらす社会・経済不安が増加の背景にあると指摘されている。
 米国は人口よりも多い四億丁もの銃が氾濫する社会だ。銃乱射事件が起きるとかえって銃の販売は増える。治安悪化の不安が人々を護身に走らすからだ。
 銃器業界は活況を呈し、アルコール・たばこ・銃器取締局(ATF)によると、二〇年の銃器製造量は千百三十万丁。この二十年で三倍近く増えた。
 米最高裁は六月、銃の携帯を規制するニューヨーク州の法律を憲法違反とする判断を下した。
 自衛のために銃保持の権利を保障する憲法条項を盾にしているが、銃犯罪の深刻な状況を鑑みれば杓子(しゃくし)定規な判断だと言わざるを得ない。
 一方、連邦議会は二十一歳未満の銃購入者の身元確認の厳格化などを柱にした規制法案を可決し、バイデン大統領の署名を経て成立させた。
 銃規制法の成立は二十八年ぶり。一歩前進ではあるが、AR15のような殺傷力の高い銃の販売禁止にまでは踏み込んでいない。
 米国は銃社会の異常さを自覚し、これを改める努力をしてほしい。
This post appeared on the front page as a direct link to the original article with the above link .

Hot this week

Mexico: Big Tech and the Police State

Russia: Trump Is Shielding America*

Mexico: Migration: A Political Crisis?

Canada: President Trump, the G7 and Canada’s New ‘Realistic’ Foreign Policy

Topics

Germany: Donald Trump’s Military Intervention in LA Is a Planned Escalation

Mexico: Migration: A Political Crisis?

Poland: Los Angeles Riots: Battle for America’s Future

Germany: Donald Trump Is Damaging the US

Canada: President Trump, the G7 and Canada’s New ‘Realistic’ Foreign Policy

Taiwan: The Beginning of a Post-Hegemonic Era: A New Normal for International Relations

Canada: Trump vs. Musk, the Emperor and the Oligarch

Mexico: Big Tech and the Police State

Related Articles

Japan: Trump’s 100 Days: A Future with No Visible Change So Far

Japan: US Administration Losing Credibility 3 Months into Policy of Threats

Japan: US-Japan Defense Minister Summit: US-Japan Defense Chief Talks Strengthen Concerns about Single-Minded Focus on Strength

Japan: Trump’s Tariffs Threaten To Repeat Historical Mistakes

Hong Kong: China, Japan, South Korea Pave Way for Summit Talks; Liu Teng-Chung: Responding to Trump