Alabama became the most recent state in the United States to eliminate the requirement for a state permit that includes a background check to carry a concealed handgun. In simple terms, a person no longer needs a license to legally carry a concealed handgun in public as per this law. With this move, half of the 50 states in the US now let anyone carry handguns without a permit—a provision that was restricted to Vermont and Alaska 13 years ago. As gun rights activists welcome the move, the looming threat of gun violence prevails. Reformers are worried that it would result in more guns on the streets and potentially more violence.
As per Centers for Disease Control and Prevention firearm fatality data for 2020, the total number of deaths from firearm-related incidents in the US rose to 45,222 in 2020, the most the CDC has ever documented since it started keeping track of such deaths in 1968. This roughly translates to 124 individuals on an average dying from gun violence each day.
American gun ownership rates are the highest in the world
A 2018 report by the Geneva-based Small Arms Survey discovered that US gun owners had 393.3 million firearms, which is more than the nation’s current population of 330 million.
In a study by the Annals of Internal Medicine, it was discovered that between January 2019 and April 2021, 7.5 million Americans or slightly under three per cent of the population, became first-time gun owners.
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The American Academy of Pediatrics published research in 2021 that connected increased gun ownership during the pandemic to greater instances of child gun injuries, including self-inflicted injuries too.
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US gun killings compared with other countries
Data from the CDC shows that homicides accounted for 19,384 deaths in 2020 or 43 per cent of all deaths. The statistic indicates a 75 per cent rise over the previous ten years and a 34 per cent increase from 2019. The statistics show that in the US, a firearm claims close to 53 lives per day. The research also reveals that 79 per cent of homicides were committed using firearms.
In the infographic: Global comparison of gun-related killings as a % of all homicides (Source: CDC)
Rise in mass shootings in the US
Data from Washington-based Gun Violence Archive shows that there were more than 600 mass shootings in the United States in 2022 alone, more than twice the 336 mass shootings that were reported four years prior. As defined broadly, a mass shooting is any occurrence in which four or more people—excluding the shooter—are shot or killed.
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Americans on gun laws
American support for tougher gun restrictions in 2020 dropped to its lowest level since 2014 according to polling conducted by Gallup (a US-based analytics company) despite significant and vociferous public outcry, frequently following instances of gun tragedy. Only 52 per cent of polled Americans indicated they favoured tougher gun legislation, while 35 per cent said that the laws should remain unchanged.
In the study, 11 per cent of respondents thought that rules should be “made less strict.” In addition to being incredibly politicised and controversial, the subject generally divides people into different political camps.
Based on the same research, Democrats support stronger gun legislation almost unanimously, with approximately 91 per cent of them being in favour. Contrarily, only 24 per cent of Republicans and 45 per cent of Independent voters had the same opinion.
