The recent mass shooting in Las Vegas is said to be the worst in American history. However, it has really not caused the type of shock and anger in America that such violent incidents should normally cause.
The mass shooting have become an order of the day in the US. Apart from that, shooting between individuals also is commonplace, caused due to a personal quarrel or a drunken brawl. It is said that around 30,000 gun deaths take place in the US every year.
While the enlightened Americans feel dismayed over such state of affairs and think that such depressing conditions should not be allowed to continue, the ground reality is that those in charge of the government seem to take the matter in its stride.
An obvious way to stop the mass shooting is to severely restrict the availability of guns to individuals, but does the American government have the will to do this?
It is strange that many Americans want gun laws to be liberal and continue to support the view that everyone must be armed. Obviously, such a view is a direct reflection on the quality of governance in the US, wherein the citizens appear to lack confidence that the government would be able to protect an unarmed American.
As the sense of insecurity amongst American citizens now represents the basic mindset, the battle against gun culture should be fought in the minds and hearts of every American. Unfortunately, the campaign against gun culture in America continues to remain very weak.
Intensity of gun culture is evident from the fact that some universities in the US now permit students and staff to carry a gun inside the campus, a practice that does not prevail in any other part of the world.
Politicians in America do not want to displease the gun lobby by enforcing strict rules against fast spreading gun culture.
Of course, some states like New York have tightened some laws but these measures are half hearted and do not contribute to any visible and positive change in the ground scenario.
It is reported that Trump administration is considering a proposal to shift oversight of the sale of American manufactured small arms from the state department review process to the commerce department and in the process loosening the inter-agency guidelines, so as to give a boost to America’s share in the global weapon market.
Such proposal of the Trump administration shows that it has no concern about the harm that such liberal export of light arms in the global market would disturb the peace in different countries.
Obviously, the US government and to some extent most US citizens seem to learn nothing even after frequent mass shooting.
— The reader is an Indian founder trustee of an NGO based in Chennai, India.
