The latest in a spate of mass shootings in the United States, that claimed the lives of 18 and wounded 13 others in the state of Maine earlier this week, has put a spotlight on America’s enduring gun problem.
The main suspect Robert R. Card, a US Army reservist, had opened fire in a bowling alley and a bar in the city of Lewiston on Wednesday (Oct 25).
After an extensive manhunt of about two days, the 40-year-old assailant was found dead inside a cargo trailer parked on the lot of a recycling plant where he once used to work, the police said on Saturday.
Card reportedly took his own life and suffered from serious mental health issues.
Maine public safety commissioner Mike Sauschuck during a press briefing said that the shooter had been hearing voices and was suffering from paranoia.
“Clearly, there’s a mental health component to this,” he told reporters.
Sauschuck further revealed that investigators found a note that Card left to a loved one which had a password to his phone and bank account information. It had the tone of a suicide letter, he added.
Card tried to buy silencer for rifle months before shooting
Card had tried to buy a silencer for a rifle at a local firearms store months before the most lethal act of firearms violence in the state’s history, ABC News reported citing the shop owner.
“He came in and filled out the form, he checked off a box that incriminated himself saying that he was in an institution,” Rick LaChapelle, owner of Coastal Defense Firearms, said. “Our staff was fantastic, let him finish filling out the form, and said, ‘I’m sorry, Mr Card, we cannot give you this… at this point in time, we cannot release this silencer to you because of the answers that you’ve given us.”
LaChapelle added, “We did what we were supposed to do and hopefully saved a lot of lives by the proper, just following the proper procedures.”
He further said that if Card had succeeded in purchasing the silencer, the rampage would have gotten uglier because people at the bar and the bowling alley, would not have heard the firing.
“He could have spent more time in each location,” LaChapelle was quoted as saying by ABC News. “And it could have been more methodical, and my heart goes out to the people, the victims. This is just absolutely horrible, horrible. I’m frustrated that, I think, some of this could have been averted,” he further added.
The Maine shooting was one of the several hundred episodes of lethal gun violence that the United States witnessed this year.
Gun violence, so far, killed at least 35,275 people in US
In 2023, gun violence sprung up as clearly one of the most prevalent issues in the United States with more than 565 incidents of mass shootings as of Oct 26, as per the Gun Violence Archive.
According to the data, the lethal episodes of firearms violence in the US have so far killed at least 35,275 people with nearly 1,157 victims in their teens and 246 being children.
The Gun Violence Archive estimated approximately 645 mass shooting incidents in 2022 and 690 in 2021.
At this time in 2022, the US had witnessed 559 mass shootings.
US holds approximately 40% of the world’s guns
According to an estimate by the Small Arms Survey, there are more than a billion guns in the world with a notable majority of them being possessed by civilians.
The research estimated that out of the 857 million civilian-held firearms estimated in 2017, 393 million were in the United States. This figure was more than those held by civilians in the other top 25 countries combined.
The study showed that the US outnumbered other countries by holding more than 40% of the world’s guns.
“With acquisition averaging around 14 million guns annually during the last five years, growth of civilian holdings in the United States contributes disproportionately to the increase of the global firearms stockpile,” said author and Small Arms Survey senior consultant Aaron Karp,
who is also a senior lecturer at Old Dominion University.
Here’s a look at some of the fatal shooting incidents that unfolded in the US in the last few months.
In mid-September, a couple, along with their two kids and three dogs were killed after being shot at in their Chicago home. Later a man in his early 30s was suspected in the deaths.
Five members of a family succumbed to gunshot wounds in Lake Township, Ohio on Aug 24. Reportedly, the deaths were linked to a family dispute that turned ugly.
A 28-year-old assailant killed three young children, aged 9, 5 and 2 respectively, and his estranged wife before killing himself on Aug 16.
A 40-year-old allegedly claimed the lives of four people in a suburb south of Atlanta on July 15. The deceased victims were in their 60s.
(With inputs from agencies)
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