A series of shootings across the country in recent years have undermined the US Congress's ability to respond appropriately to the internal security challenges. Moreover, President Obama commented earlier the unlikeness of gun control reform.
"Unfortunately, the grip of the NRA on Congress is extremely strong,"Obama said. "I don't foresee any legislative action being taken in this Congress. And I don't foresee any real action being taken until the American public feels a sufficient sense of urgency".
The US President seems quite frustrated while passing the buck onto Congress. So there is no one who accepts the responsibility for the deaths of innocent US citizens?
1. Mentally ill people on shooting sprees is common in the US
Mother Jones, a nonprofit news outlet, reveals shocking data, according to which "at least 61 mass murders carried out with firearms across the country, with the killings unfolding in 30 states from Massachusetts to Hawaii."
A study by the FBI shows 160 active shooter incidents occurred in the United States between 2000 and 2013 with a toll reaching 1,043 victims. The US government department initiated the study in 2014 to provide federal, state and local law enforcement with data to prevent and react to mass casualties in these incidents.
Data says that an average of 11.4 incidents occurred annually and 70% of the incidents occurred in either a commerce/business or educational environment
2. Clash of mass killings reports by law enforcement
However, the USA Today claims more than 200 mass killings in the United States since 2006. The death toll is on the rise once again as 40 out of 50 states in the US have mass killings almost every 14 days. The news agency claimed a lot of missing cases and cases the local police enforcement misinterpreted to FBI.
Family members are the majority of the victims of shooters. Like what happened in Tulsa, Oklahoma suburb of Broken Arrow which recently witnessed the grizzly stabbing death of David Bever, his wife, and three of his children at the hands of his two teenage sons.
4. The US has been the most violent country in the world after WWII?
As Duke University associate professor Kieran Healy revealed in a chart "America is a Violent Country" in 2012, comparing the US to OECD countries ranking it the most violent for deaths due to assault per 100,000 populations aince 1960.
Healy says in his report, "The most striking features of the data are (1) how much more violent the U.S. is than other OECD countries (except possibly Estonia and Mexico, not shown here), and (2) the degree of change-and recently, decline-there has been in the U.S. time series considered by itself."
President Obama confirmed this statement following mass shootings of 9 black churchgoers in Charleston when he said:
"At some point, we as a country will have to reckon with the fact that this type of mass violence does not happen in other advanced countries. It doesn't happen in other places with this kind of frequency."
5. Wild, Wild… South
If you live in the southern part of the country you probably hear about mass killings more often. Professor Healy went into details by disclosing statistics on a state-level mortality rate and found out that the South sees more violence than the rest of the country.
Harvard Injury Control Research Center presented analysis which says "people in states with many guns have elevated rates of homicide, particularly firearm homicide".
7. Murder rates and gun possessions interconnected
The death toll from gun-related crimes in states with strict gun control regulations is lower than in any others.
Some 4 years ago, Richard Florida, a prominent American economist, analyzed how deaths at the hands of gunmen depends on a state where the crime was committed.
He stated that "Fatal gun violence is less likely to occur in richer states with more post-industrial knowledge economies, higher levels of college graduates, and tighter gun laws.
"Factors like drug use, stress levels, and mental illness are much less significant than might be assumed", concluded Florida.
8. Polls unveiled ambiguous Americans attitude towards gun ownerships
American society is divided on whether gun control should be tightened or not.
2016 US presidential candidates add to divisions of gun control in the US. For example, Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders believed that no legislation could have prevented deadly mass killings in the US, following his comments on the school shooting of 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut.
All the gun control talks appear to boil down to just talk. The common problem the US faces is of utter importance for the country to be resolved in the years to come.
The issue of gun-related violence has been divisive for the United States where the right to keep and bear arms is considered fundamental, being enshrined in the Second Amendment of the US Constitution.
