The recent tragedy in a Texas school where an 18-year-old shooter, after attacking his grandmother, killed 19 children from first, second, and third grades and two teachers, is nothing more than the product of a sick society, where its leaders don’t approach the problems they have to solve with the necessary energy, for the sake of not hurting businesses and the positions of power that come with it.

If in 2021 a record was set in this negative feature, 2022 is looking rather worse, with the huge chance that this type of tragedy will multiply along with the others that seriously damage an angry society, no matter how rich they are, and in a country to which many still want to go.

Several media and North American personalities wonder why so many episodes of this sort occur in their country, whose rates are unparallel in comparison to the rest of the developed nations: 93 people die every day from firearms, and mass shootings are becoming alarmingly regular. They occur in schools, churches, concerts, and other public places.

According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, the United States has a homicide rate of 4.88 deaths per 100,000 citizens, much higher than that of rich nations like Austria (0.51) or Netherlands (0.61), but also higher than other poor countries like Albania (2.28), Bangladesh (2.51) and Chile (3.59).

On top of all that is added the phenomenon of massive attacks, which occur in the United States at an unprecedented rate at the international level in areas that do not face armed conflicts.

EVIL IS EASY

The easiness with which a possible attacker can purchase a firearm, even of military grade is another characteristic that raises the number of victims in this type of event.

Despite passing some bans, the sale of a truly deadly weapon –they all are though– like the AR-15 continues to increase.

Manufactured by the Remington company, it’s a high power semi-automatic rifle. It has the infamous reputation of being the most widely used murder weapon in recent mass killings in the United States, and there are more than eight million of them in the possession of North American citizens.

The 21 deaths in the Texas elementary school join the list of the most deadly attacks against children. In Florida, last year, the victims were 17, which is added to other deadly actions like the Virginia School, 32 deaths in 2007; the Sandy Hooke Elementary, 26 in 2012; Tonema Douglas High School, 17, in 2018; and University of Texas, 14 in 1966.

AVOIDABLE, BUT...

In recent years and after the string of mass shootings, such as the one that occurred at a concert in Vegas, with a balance of 58 victims, many voices have been raised to demand greater control over arms sales, although it’s a right protected by the U.S. Constitution, thanks to a highly controversial Article 2, because many consider it obsolete.

But lobbyists like the National Rifle Association (NRA) are lobbying hard in Washington to prevent any legislation that would cut short the profits from their lucrative business.

Former president, Donald Trump, received the direct support of the NRA for the 2016 elections and refused to criticize the easy access to weapons in the attacks that occurred under his administration.

In fact, in his first statements, Trump called for "attacking the problem of mental health", but he didn’t even mention the word gun, nor that, with 300 million firearms in the United States, some must fall into the hands of mass murder perpetrators.

There’s much to say and a lot more to do, if there’s a will to try to fix this terrible problem that often occurs in peaceful places like Texas.

For his part, U.S. President Joe Biden, who was on tour in the Pacific at the time, in contact with his allies in the region, plotting against China and Russia, declared official mourning upon his return and spoke out strongly against the gun industry lobbyists:

“When we approved the weapons law, crimes went down and when it expired they went up again. What in God's name does anyone need an assault weapon for? Do they go hunting animals with bullet vests? We have to have the courage to stand up to the industry. I know that most Americans support gun control laws."

Biden, when he was Barack Obama's vice president, also tried to do something about it, but failed. What will happen now when armed supremacists, racists, and immigrant hunters swarm everywhere, in an already sick country where the lives of children have just been torn again?