THE MANY ASPECTS OF THE GRISLY GUN CULTURE IN THE US

America is everybody’s dream destination. The allure is in its cutting-edge technology, the opportunities it gives to anyone wanting to work hard and excel, and its welcoming approach to foreigners.

- By P.K. Balachandran

Americans own more guns on a per capita basis than any other people

But, as in the case of other societies, the US has a dark side too. The reputation of the world’s oldest democracy is marred by its gun culture. Despite its obvious destructiveness, the gun has acquired a cult status, deeply embedded in the national psyche. Its backing by the Second Amendment of the US constitution makes it sacrosanct.

The killing of Charlie Kirk, a White American Right Wing campaigner and MAGA propagandist, by another White man, Tyler Robinson, at a University Campus in Utah, is the latest example of gun culture in the US. And, as in previous cases, Kirk’s killing has not triggered a debate on gun culture, let alone banning the use of guns by all and sundry.

According to the Switzerland-based Small Arms Survey (2018), the US, with less than 5% of the world’s population, has 46% of the world’s civilian-owned guns.

In 2017, the US had 120.5 guns per 100 people and had a gun homicide rate of 4.1 per 100 people. The comparative figures for Canada were 3.7 guns per 100 people and a 0.5 gun homicide rate per 100 people. For the UK, the figures were 4.6 and 0.04 respectively.

Experts say that gun violence is one of the most pressing “public health” issues facing the US in 2025. According to the latest data from the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the US experiences one firearm-related death every 11 minutes, making it a leading cause of death among multiple age groups.

The 2023 CDC provisional data indicates that 46,728 people died from firearms, representing the third-highest number of gun-related deaths ever recorded in US history.

According to www.americanprogress.org 327 people are shot in the US every day. Of those, an estimated 117 die, while the other 210 suffer lifelong injuries.