Why Is Vicious Shooting Endless in the US?

In the early morning of July 20, a mass shooting occurred at a movie theater in Aurora County, Denver, Colorado — up to date, 12 were dead and 38 were injured. America was shocked by the news. Gun control, again, became a focus of discussions.

According to a news update from the U.S., the 24-year-old suspect, James Homes, owns at least four guns: a shotgun, a semiautomatic rifle and two pistols. The police had found two pistols at the crime scene. Aurora police stated that at the suspect’s apartment, “sophisticated explosives were installed,” and it would take “hours, even days” to dismantle the explosives.

In recent years, frequent gun crimes have become a serious social issue in the U.S. The U.S. has always been regarded as a country where “gun ownership is placed above the lives and safety of American citizens.” In recent years, a number of gun crimes have resulted in the death of many innocent citizens; among the victims, some are Chinese students.

Americans own 35 to 50 percent of the world’s guns; every 100 Americans own 90 guns. The U.S. gun violence and gun death rate are the highest in the developed world.

The number of casualties caused by gun shooting incident is shocking. According to the statistics of the U.S. foreign policy, gun violence results in 30,000 deaths and 200,000 injuries in the U.S. every year.

In modern American history, the most serious shooting incident occurred on Apr. 16, 2007: A Korean student at Virginia Tech University opened fire on campus. He killed 32 people while injuring many more, and then committed suicide. This immediately caused a strict gun control debate in the U.S.

After the Colorado shooting incident on July 20, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg took the lead and gave a speech that strongly urged the U.S. to strengthen gun control. He criticized U.S. President Barack Obama and his political rival, Mitt Romney, for their unwillingness to intervene on the issue.

In fact, after every vicious shooting, there is always a heated debate in all sectors of America on whether to impose more stringent controls on the use of guns and sales; yet, all debates end without any result.

In the U.S. there are many politicians and organizations that support the use of firearms among civilians. The politicians and organizations have a huge amount of capital to support the increasing of their influence. And these groups are also winning the support of more and more conservatives.

According to a Gallup poll, the American public’s support of strict gun control continued to decline in recent years. Statistics show that only 26 percent of Americans — a record low — supported a total ban on civilian use of firearms last year.

Gun control is even one of the important topics in the U.S. presidential election. During an interview on Republican presidential primaries this year, our reporter encountered a lot of the National Rifle Association’s members and supporters. They claimed that private gun ownership rights were conferred by the Constitution of the United States and should not be changed.

According to the second amendment of the Constitution of the United States, “…the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” The United States Constitution and its amendments are difficult to change. Coupled with the support of public opinion and the election, such facts make the strengthening of gun control in the U.S. even more unforeseeable.

Therefore, though the Colorado shooting shocked the world, it will not change the current situation in which guns are proliferated in the U.S. and gun control is loose; consequently, similar vicious shooting incidents will surely repeat themselves.