Why are gunfire ringing out in Texas again? Data interpretation of gun violence in the United States

Why are gunshots ringing out in Texas again? Data interpretation of gun violence in the United States Video: The youngest victim in the Texas church shooting in the United States was only 1 and a half years old Source: CCTV new...

Video: The youngest victim in the Texas church shooting in the United States was only 1 and a half years old Source: CCTV News

Data Interpretation of Gun Violence in the United States

A church in the town of Sutherland Springs in southern Texas was shot on the morning of the 5th. 26 residents, including the elderly and children, were killed during worship; one gunman was killed. More than 20 others were injured.

[Why Texas]

Texas Governor Greg Abbott said that this was the deadliest shooting in Texas history.

The shooting occurred in Texas, which is not surprising. On the political spectrum across the United States, Texas is very far to the right, and the pro-gun culture is deeply rooted here. A 2015 study by the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University in New York showed that the gun ownership rate among Texas residents was 35.7%, higher than the national average of 29.1%.

> Texas has very loose control over firearms. According to the annual ranking of gun control tightness released by the Brady Research Center to Prevent Gun Violence, Texas ranks 34th among the 50 states in the United States, with a score of F, the lowest level.

USA Today reported on the 5th that Texas allows registered legal gun owners to carry guns in most public places, and allows legal gun owners to bring their guns to school in holsters. The state Legislature earlier this year lowered the fee for applying for a handgun license from $140 to $40, and the relevant law took effect on September 1; the state Legislature also allowed applicants to learn to shoot pistols through online courses.

Texas also has a high rate of firearm deaths. Data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that the number of gun deaths in Texas was 2,599 in 2011 and has increased year by year since then. In 2015, 3,203 people in Texas were killed by guns, the most in the United States; the fatality rate was 11.7 per 100,000, higher than the national average in the same year.

The Sutherland Springs church shooting will spark new debate over gun control. The reasons for shootings are many and complex. But no matter what, the looser the gun control, the higher the probability of dying from a gun.

[Why it was so tragic]

Texas law enforcement officials said that the gunman used a "Ruger" AR series assault rifle to commit the crime. Police did not disclose the specific model of the gun. According to US media reports, investigators are reviewing the suspect's social media posts, one of which shows the AR-15 semi-automatic assault rifle he holds.

This semi-automatic weapon has been the murder weapon in many serious shootings in the United States in recent years, including the 2012 movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado, the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Connecticut, the 2015 shooting in San Bernardino, California, and the 2016 nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida.

In 1994, the U.S. Congress passed a law prohibiting the manufacture, sale, and possession of assault weapons and large-capacity magazines with a capacity of more than 10 rounds, including the semi-automatic weapons mentioned above. However, this law is only valid for 10 years. Although gun control advocates have sought to ban the sale of semi-automatic weapons since it expired in 2004, all legislative efforts have failed. Semi-automatic weapons with performance comparable to military rifles are selling like hot cakes and are an important reason for the frequent mass shootings in the United States with high mortality rates and numerous casualties.

[How serious is gun violence]

In horizontal comparison, gun control in the United States has failed among developed countries, and gun violence is the worst.

Studies have shown that in Germany, the probability of dying from a gunshot is about the same as that of a plane crash; in the UK, the probability of death is about the same as falling down the stairs; in Japan, the probability of death is about the same as being struck by lightning. In the United States, the probability of being shot to death is 15 times that of Germany, 31 times that of the United Kingdom, and 310 times that of Japan.

According to statistics from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, from 2011 to 2015, an average of 32 people were shot and killed every day in the United States, and 58 people committed suicide with guns. Including accidents such as fires, an average of 93 people died from gunpoints every day. In 2016, more than 33,000 people were killed by guns in the United States.

How many guns are there in the United States? A research agency affiliated with the U.S. Congress has calculated that the number of guns owned by Americans today is twice that of 1968. There are more than 300 million guns in the U.S. private sector, equivalent to one gun per person.

The United States produces a large amount of guns every year. The 2016 statistical report of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives under the Department of Justice shows that U.S. gun production was 3.04 million in 1986 and as high as 9.05 million in 2014. The past few years have been the fastest growing period in U.S. gun production in the past 30 years. Part of it is exported, but most of it is sold domestically.

Behind the debate over gun control between the Democratic and Republican parties in the U.S. Congress are economic interests and political lobbying, as well as cultural influences and legal obstacles. Whenever serious shootings occur every year, gun control will become a hot topic, but every time it remains silent, and this time will probably be no exception. (Kim Min-min) (Xinhua News Agency special article)