America: A country at war with itself...
As the number of mass shootings in the USA hits 335 already this year, MIKE PARKER finds that while some are calling for gun control, weapons sales are booming. Twisted killers are now routinely using pulverising assault rifles to inflict massive damage o
AS OF Thursday morning, according to America’s national Gun Violence Archive, there had been 335 mass shootings across the US in the first 193 days of this year.
At least four people – often many more – were killed in each of these attacks, which are now happening at the terrifying rate of 1.7 every day.
These shocking figures come at the same time as a spike in violent crime in cities across the US – up 25.8 per cent on last year in New York alone – and a boom in the sale of military-style assault rifles.
There are now more than 20 million AR-15S or similar semi-automatic, rapidfire weapons in the hands of American citizens. There were around 400,000 in 1994, prior to a 10-year federal ban.
But when the ban was lifted, says David
French, author of two books on homegrown terrorism, sales not only exploded but also spawned the “gun fetish” that dominates a politically divided society.
“Today,” says Mr French, “pandering politicians flippantly pose with AR-15S and fire weapons in campaign ads, while labelling themselves ‘pro-life, pro-god, pro-gun’.
“Meanwhile, a disturbing number of owners have adopted a ‘tactical’ lifestyle, dressing in combat fatigues and brandishing their weapons wherever they go.
“At certain protests it’s now common to see men and women armed to the teeth and displaying assault rifles, to make their political opponents feel a palpable, physical fear of armed violence.”
So far in 2022, the number of all gun violence deaths, including murders, suicides and accidents, stands at a record 23,616 – already more than 3,000 higher than for the whole of 2020.
The latest grim statistics reveal that – in
little over six months – those fatalities include 186 children under the age of 11 and 713 youths aged 12 to 17, with a further 1,901 seriously injured.
These new statistics, in a country more deeply divided than ever over gun laws and the right to bear arms, includes this month’s Independence Day massacre in Chicago’s Highland Park.
Robert Crimo, 22, perched on a rooftop, took aim at a Fourth of July family parade and opened fire with his Smith & Wesson M&P15 semi-automatic rifle, killing seven and injuring 46.
The atrocity has sparked renewed demands for tougher laws. But Josh Koskoff – an attorney who represented victims’ families in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting – declared: “One inescapable irony is that any time there is renewed discussion of banning assault rifles, it triggers a boom in sales.
“Gun-makers know that mass shootings help sell more assault rifles.
“The buyers are not simply those who are scared and want to protect loved ones and property. The imagery, the masculinity
and the violence appeal to some – and gun-makers are cashing in on them.”
Their weapons of choice – the AR-15 and other assault rifles like it – are engineered to cause “maximum wound effect” according to former US Navy trauma surgeon Dr Peter Rhee. “In many ways, it’s the perfect killing machine.”
One doctor near scene of the carnage in Chicago earlier this month told of the horrific injuries he saw, caused by the twisted gunman’s military assault-style weapon.
Dr David Baum, an obstetrician who was with his family watching his two-yearold grandson participate in the parade, said: “The scene of some of those bodies is unspeakable for the average person. The injuries I saw are wartime injuries.
“The people who were gone were blown up by that gunfire. There were evisceration injuries from the power of this gun.”
Unlike a heavier handgun bullet, which punctures the body like a nail, highvelocity rounds from an AR-15 or similar weapons deliver a payload of kinetic energy that radiates outward from an entry wound, obliterating organs, pulverising bones and causing massive bleeding. The Independence Day nightmare came barely a month after an 18-year-old gunman shot dead 19 pupils and two teachers, wounding another 17, at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Victims were so badly torn apart that forensic experts had to use DNA samples to match their remains.
Pediatrician Roy Guerrero described seeing children “whose bodies were pulverised” and “decapitated” by the impact.
A recent CBS News poll shows an overwhelming number – 81 per cent – support much tougher background checks on anyone applying for a firearms licence.
And 77 per cent are in favour of raising the age for buyers of all semi-automatic, or “rapid fire” weapons from 18 to 21.
A majority of 62 per cent want an
‘Common to see folk armed to the teeth’ ‘They are the perfect killing machine’
outright ban on assault-style weapons. But none of these measures are included in a series of bipartisan measures under consideration in America’s Senate.
Astonishingly, America’s Fourth of July nightmare could have been even worse.
Police in Richmond, Virginia, thwarted a second mass shooting at a fireworks celebration following a tip from an informant who overheard the attack being planned.
A team of FBI and Homeland Security agents arrested two men and seized two assault rifles, a handgun and 223 rounds.
Richmond mayor Levar Stoney said the federal government needs to act to stem the flow of guns into communities.
He said: “Whether you’re at home in your cul-de-sac, or in your neighbourhood, or in a park, or at a parade or out dining – you have to keep your head on a swivel.
“That’s not the country I desire to live in but those are the facts of the matter at this moment.”
ANY SELF-RESPECTING Conservative leadership candidate must have a video. Well we all need a good laugh these days, because they’re all terrible. Even if it’s from the one you support it will still be terrible.
Penny Mordaunt’s is a useful aid to sleep in the hot weather, with a mournful Elgar as background music and a narrator with the soothing voice of a top hospital consultant saying that you have three weeks to live.
They all bang on about their patriotism, which surely is a minimum requirement for a prime minister.they all have “a plan” and a promise to “deliver”. More delivering than a busy night at Deliveroo.
Liztruss says she will “deliver, deliver and deliver”. Extra cheese with mine please.
Tomtugendhat has a plan and says it’s “time for a clean start” – as all politicians have done since the beginning of time.
And Rishi Sunak’s self-congratulatory story about how well he’s done is a bit rich.
Just like he is.
MY MOTHER-IN-LAW, who is in her 90s, has recently had a stairlift installed. Visitors are welcome to have a go, a stately fairground ride which sweeps magically round the corner, pauses at the top and then wafts you back downstairs. Hours of fun – and life-enhancing for her. Meanwhile, her youngest great-granddaughter has just begun to walk.what a poignant and perfect example of our human journey, from learning how to walk to learning how not to.
EARLIER in the week today was billed as beginning the run-up to the hottestever days in Britain and experts say we must brace ourselves for the inferno by staying indoors with the curtains drawn.
Well, by one of those happy accidents of good timing I will be on a Cornish beach enjoying the sea breeze which is always pleasantly...er... bracing. Sorry Cornish people, I know we tourists are a mixed blessing, but at least he and I are regulars and take our rubbish home.
The warnings about how to conduct yourself in hot weather get trotted out every year as though they’re a blinding new insight. My favourite is that overheated ladies must resist the urge to cool their private parts with an iced lolly. In a recent interview Dr Sarahwelsh said: “There are many things that should never go near a vagina, and ice lollies are up there.”
I can honestly say, cooling off by applying a Calippo to my intimate area would never have occurred to me, and I’d bet you a Fab to a Solero it’s never occurred to anyone else.
WHAT IS a woman? Last week I’d taken my seat in a theatre when another member of the audience came in wearing a maxi skirt and bare feet. A nice summery skirt in cornflower blue. He was a middleaged man with a greying beard, but you know, live and let live. No problem with that.
He was about to sit down when he changed his mind and began to climb over the row in front of him. Had he perhaps forgotten he was wearing a skirt? The material caught on the back of the seat leaving him hopelessly trapped, straining forwards as though trudging into a strong head wind.
After a lengthy struggle he managed to execute a half-turn and unhook the skirt from the back of the seat. It would have taken a heart of stone not to laugh.
What is a woman? A woman is someone who knows never to clamber over a theatre seat in anything but trousers.