The gun violence epidemic is a problem uniquely American

What will it take for major gun reform to happen?

BY RICHIE RODRIGUEZ Community Engagement Editor

A theater. A place of worship. A nightclub. A dance hall.

It’s been less than two months into the year and so far, there’s been 63 mass shootings across the United States. The violence, death and injuries from gun violence is something that’s become part of life in America and at this point, we’ve become desensitized to the shootings.

Other developed nations in the world don’t live like this. The rate of gun homicides in the U.S. is eight times higher than it is in Canada, 13 times higher than it is in France, and 23 times higher than in Australia.

An elementary school. A grocery store.

The victims of these horrific acts were in a place where they were supposed to feel safe and secure going about their normal day. But we’ve seen how quickly everyday citizens become just another headline in the news without any real gun reform by lawmakers.

How do you think the victims’ families feel? Knowing that despite the ongoing death, the federal government still can’t bring about any real change for Americans to feel safe in 2023.

Americans have always claimed guns – it’s woven into the Bill of Rights as the 2nd Amendment – and yet the government hasn’t claimed a monopoly on them to reduce the unnecessary mass casualties. Why is that? Well probably because money pit on Valentine’s Day and took it.

Alex Nguyen, a fourth-year psychology major, possesses a similar attitude towards the occasion. “I think Valentine’s is a waste of money because it puts an emphasis on putting extra love or effort into a single day, when you could instead put that money towards other necessities,” he said.

Rather than averting money to spend on more practical commodities, people are using it to fulfill what they believe to be a sensible expression of “love.”

To introduce another related issue, I also place some of the blame on social media for smudging the criteria of what love entails and what it doesn’t. The symbolism has become so convoluted that the amount of gifts equates to the amount of love, thus feeding into the commercialized stigma. Materialism in and of itself has taken over the authenticity of the spiritual values meant to define Valentine’s Day.

Nguyen agrees with the media’s influence.

“The media tells people that they have to spend an ‘X’ amount of money or go to a super nice dinner in order to show their love, but that isn’t the case,” Nguyen said. “After holiday candy leaves the shelves, grocery stores immediately restock with heart-shaped chocolate boxes and conversation hearts. It’s a system that runs like clockwork.” the NRA spends millions every year to keep a tight grip on lawmakers.

At the end of the day, it isn’t that spending money and feeding into the stereotype of the holiday is a bad thing. It’s just important to also keep in mind that Valentine’s Day isn’t all about the gifts, as it is about why you’re giving them.

Right-wing politicians frame the problem as a mental health issue. Other developed nations take on other tactics which our politicians just can’t bring themselves to propose. Congress did reach a deal in 2022 on limited gun reform but with the recent shootings in California, it’s clear that gun violence is embedded much deeper in the US.

In 2020, Canada banned military-style assault weapons two weeks after a mass shooting in Nova Scotia. In 2019, New Zealand lawmakers passed a gun buyback scheme, as well as restrictions on AR-15s and other semiautomatic weapons, and they later established a firearms registry less than a month after the Christchurch massacre.

The second amendment was established at a time when a gun didn’t shoot 45 rounds in one minute. It’s outdated and our lawmakers need to understand that people in this country are tired of waking up to the news of another mass shooting.

As a news and media publication, we aim to create discourse and influence the debate about the gun violence epidemic. We hope the community understands, in our reporting about the topic, not just the incident, but the broader issue that the response to mass shootings must be prioritized by lawmakers.

America has a problem. It is that the nation continually fails to address gun violence and with no clear strategy or plan in sight.

Such a shame that this is who we are as a country.