The United States has surpassed 140 mass shootings since the beginning of 2023, which is more than one a day. The leading cause of death for those 18-years-old and younger is gun violence. This is something that the rest of the developed world does not deal with- or when they do it is not every day, or even every week. Many countries see years go by without any deaths occurring at the hands of guns, and there are two main reasons for this. The first and foremost is that these countries have actual gun legislation in place to mitigate mass causality events like the ones we see here in the U.S. The second is that of healthcare. In the rest of the developed world healthcare is a right, and mental healthcare is prioritized. Here in the States, congressional members are bribed into doing what the National Rifle Association (NRA) and Big Pharma want. Like every other industry in America the NRA and Big Pharma only care about one thing- increasing the profits of their shareholders. It is costing the lives of Americans all over the nation, as about 20% of Americans experience gun violence at some point in their lives. So, let's break down why this is happening and what can be done about it.
First and foremost, it needs to be addressed that bipartisan legislation has hit the floors of the United States House and Senate numerous times, and it never passes due to the NRA spending millions of dollars "lobbying" (or as I call it bribing) politicians. So, politicians take money to then vote the way the NRA wants them to, and you might be wondering what the NRA gains from this? Simple, it's money. Why is lobbying even legal? The U.S. literally has a legal bribery system working within the political sector. The corruption runs deep, and it is both republicans and democrats who are accepting lobbyists money, so don't go thinking one party is better than the other. In the U.S. we have a uniparty system, it's just that one party pretends to care while the other one doesn't. This corruption is pervasive and extends across a vast number of industries.
This is why voting is such an important issue, but in the U.S. the answer is not simply voting. Gerrymandering makes it so that those who are elected choose their own voters, instead of voters choosing their own elected officials. There are congressional maps that are comprised of districts and within those districts you have different representatives. Gerrymandering is the practice of redistricting these congressional maps so that those included in a particular district favor one party or one class. Essentially, gerrymandering is a legal form of political manipulation. It is woven into the very fabric of contemporary politics in the U.S. Those in office who do not benefit from lobbyists or from political manipulation are few and far between, but those are the ones we desperately need serving in public office.
So, really, the issue is that bribery and corruption run so deep within the United States government, that the only way out of this dystopian hell hole is to vote in progressive -not regressive- political leaders. But for that to happen, political campaigns need to be 100% publicly funded. For this to work there obviously needs to be regulations and stipulations on these funds. For example, caps would be necessary for the amount allotted towards campaign financing. It is too difficult for people who want to help others to primary against incumbent corporatists who can easily receive millions of dollars from donors. Another way to help diminish these mass causality events is to invest within the people, and pass legislation that would make it easier for those who have mental illnesses to seek help. This would mean that the U.S. would have to invest in a proper healthcare system instead of the current health insurance system it possesses. But just like the NRA, Big Pharma also lobbies the government. This way pharmaceutical companies can charge astronomical prices for life saving medications, because like all other corporations, shareholder profit margins are more important than the health and livelihood of average U.S. citizens. If the U.S. had similar healthcare to the rest of the developed world, it would mean that way those who suffer from mental illnesses can get the help they need without becoming bankrupt in the process.
The last and final necessity is federal gun legislation. States are free to impose their own laws and regulations regarding guns; however, if one lives in a state where it is more difficult to possess a firearm, there is the simple solution of that individual crossing state lines to a state that has looser gun legislation. There cannot be loopholes like this in place. Federal gun reform would at least set a standard across all 50 states and make it more difficult for those who shouldn't possess a gun from possessing one.
Overall, there is no denying that the United States has a problem with gun violence. The only way to mitigate these violent attacks would be to invest in the people themselves instead of politicians upholding and safeguarding corporatist interests. Until that happens nothing will inevitably change.
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