Whoever doesn't see the correlation between the U.S.'s pretension to lead the world and what happened in Uvalde, Texas on Tuesday is either blind or in extreme denial.
The correlation is its sick, rotten, corrupt, and partisan political system that can't stop a horrific series of mass murders that has been going on for years.
The formidable gun lobby, which has garnered itself a massive grassroots movement, along with weapon manufacturers and cowardly Republican politicians, has created an alternate reality in which the problem is not the guns, but that the guns are not in the hands of the "good fellas". If there only was an armed guard at every school, this all could have been prevented.
The American constitution "safeguards" the right to keep and bear arms, and according to gun enthusiasts, the right of an 18-year-old to go online and order the deadliest weapons created by man — M16 and AK-47 rifle — and go on a murderous rampage.
Let me set the record straight, this kind of nonsense is completely malicious. The American constitution wasn't written in an era when semiautomatic firearms existed, or in a reality in which modern police forces and means of enforcement existed. Studies consistently show that access to firearms increases the chances of accidents, crime, and murder or suicide.
No other Western country can hold a candle to the mass murder of innocent people seen in the United States, not only in tragic elementary school shootings; there are unnecessary, deadly, horrible shooting incidents around the U.S. every day in an endless epidemic that's claimed more lives than all of America's wars since its inception combined. In 2020, firearms became the number one cause of death among children and teenagers in the U.S., surpassing car accidents.
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The Robb Elementary School in Texas, where 21 people were shot to death by a gunman
(Photo: Getty Images)
On March 3, 1996, a murderer entered an elementary school in Dunblane, Scotland. He murdered 16 small children and their teacher. Immediately thereafter, the British passed a law prohibiting the bearing of firearms. No similar incidents have taken place since.
These people sometimes have peculiar ideas or perspectives on these murderous events. They start to delineate the "American problems", claiming it's linked to "violence" and "video games", and that "not everything is about guns". According to the available studies and data - it's the ubiquity of guns. All the other factors, including bullying and social alienation, exist in Western European countries too. The difference is the access to firearms.
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Flags lowered to half-staff after the deadly Robb Elementary School shooting
(Photo: AFP)
America wants to lead the world on a path to progress and liberal order, and there is no one more fit for the job. But upon looking into its political system, the way it's captivated by fake news, partisanship and greed. One has to ask himself whether it's a solid foundation to rely on.
Is a nation that can't protect its own children from being murdered at school, a nation that is largely in denial about the scope of this crisis, fitting to lead the global democratic vision?
There is nothing left to do aside from hoping for change, even if it's not expected to come any time soon.