By Dr Shailendra Palvia
Gun violence is a leading cause of deaths in the United States. Till October 24, 2024, the gun violence statistics are absolutely alarming: 13,808 homicides; 26,379 injuries; 428 mass shootings; in the age-group 0-11, 195 children killed and 456 injured; teens in the age group 12-17, 944 killed and 2645 injured; 1117 unintentional shootings; among law enforcement officers 60 killed and 282 injured.
By comparison, there were 21,068; 20,390; 18,854 gun homicides in 2021, 2022, and 2023 respectively. And gun suicides were heartbreaking – 26,328 and 27,038 in 2021 and 2022 respectively (Source: gunviolencearchive.org). Much needs to be done to curb the menace of gun violence.
Each day on an average, guns kill more than 120 people and twice as many are shot and wounded. With only 4.2 per cent of the world's population, the USA accounts for 46 per cent of global civilian gun ownership. We have justifiably become the laughing stock of the world. Since 1999, mass shootings in the US have continued to erupt in schools, theaters, supermarkets, restaurants, places of worship, and malls, basically all the places’ we all go to. We are living in fear.
The ongoing backdrop of violence keeps children and teens under severe anxiety and mental stress. Each act of gun violence is succeeded by prayers, candles, flowers, widespread media coverage, and resolution to act but nothing really happens. The political class in our country is confused and keeps pandering to the obsolete second amendment. More than one million human lives have been lost due to guns since 1990. I call this Gun Holocaust.
Every person in the US is potentially vulnerable to firearm violence. More than five per cent of America’s children have witnessed a shooting. Should we wait till a friend, acquaintance or a member of our extended family becomes a victim of gun violence? A hoax that keeps being repeated in speeches by gun lobby and politicians is that mental sickness is the cause of homicides. Not true.
Less than five per cent of mass shootings have been executed by mentally sick people. Most of the shootings have been committed by folks who got hold of assault weapons without any background checks.
The 2018 Florida High school shooting in 2018 led to very visible and passionate youth marches in the USA and worldwide. Even these did not weaken the resolve of the gun lobbyists to yield. Gun Violence has become a fixture in American Life. National psyche has become numb to such an epidemic of gun violence.
Historical, economic and social impact of gun violence
The Second Amendment ratified in 1791, is abundantly obsolete now. There have been several generational transformations since then in the security needs of people. The one sentence amendment reads - “A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” This amendment has created gigantic confusion.
The sentence awkwardly moves from rights of well-regulated militia to rights of people. It also suggests some providential proclamation that people have the right to bear arms and then kill human beings indiscriminately with not human arms, but with guns and semi-automatic weapons. Obstacles to curb gun violence include the gun advocacy group National Rifles Association (NRA) founded in 1871 having currently 4 million members; and gun manufacturers.
NRA is considered by the IRS to be operated exclusively for the promotion of social welfare. Well, it is just the opposite. Legislators continue to curry favor with NRA and other gun advocacy groups to get funding for their election campaigns. Gun violence is estimated to cost the American economy a colossal amount of $229 billion every year. Guns kill more than 38,000 people and cause nearly 85,000 injuries each year.
The issue of gun violence is complex and deeply rooted in our culture. American Public Health Association (APHA) and Surgeon General Vivek Murthy recognize that a comprehensive public health approach to addressing this growing crisis is critical to ensure that our families and communities are safe. Besides healthcare expenses, there are expenses that include deployment of law enforcement professionals and first responders, injured/disabled victims’ lost wages and lowering of quality of life. We also see fractured families, neighborhoods, and communities.
The birth of Ahimsa-End Gun Violence
Everytown for gun safety is the largest organization in the country focused on gun violence prevention encouraging people to donate, contact senators, and attend events; Other organizations include Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Coalition to Stop Gun Violence since 1974, Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, Sandy Hook Promise, Gun Violence Archive, Violence Policy Center, March for Our Lives Action Fund, Moms Demand Action, Students Demand Action, Mothers/Men Against Senseless Killings, and Communities Partnering 4 Peace (CP4P), working in 22 Chicago neighborhoods.
The South Asian community has generally ignored the threat of gun violence. Indian Americans, like other minority groups, are unfortunately not immune to gun violence. Aishwarya Thatikonda was among nine people killed in a mass shooting in Dallas, TX on May 6, 2023; 61-year-old Telangana man was shot dead by a teenager in a carjacking incident in November 2018; 25-year-old
Indian man was among three killed when a gunman opened fire in a bank building in Cincinnati on September, 2018; in a hate crime, a US Navy Veteran killed Srinivas Kuchibhotla in along with injuring two other men – Alok Madasani and Ian Grillot in February 2017; and in the Wisconsin Sikh Gurudwara, a mass shooting on August 5, 2012, killed seven people and wounded four others.
South Asians, representing the predominantly Indian diaspora in America, launched Ahimsa-End Gun Violence on April 18, 2023 to address the root causes of the epidemic, promote voting based on this single issue, and to educate our youth to spearhead a long term sustainable crusade against the madness of gun violence. Youth are our best hope to work to elect state and federal political representatives who help pass stricter gun laws.
Underpinning this launch is the belief that Indian Americans are a mere 1.5 per cent of the population but contribute 6% of the taxes and are successful in several professions - engineering, IT, education, medicine, law, and politics. South Asians can wield a huge influence in waging a meaningful war against this madness.
All Ahimsa internships in Georgia and Virginia were conducted by Professor Shailendra Palvia and enriched by three guest speakers -- Vaisheshi Jalajam, Swati Narayan and Shveta Jain. Swati Narayan has been a crusader for curbing gun violence for over two decades. Ahimsa internships were graced by local politicians who support sensible legislations to curb gun violence: Michelle Au, Ashwin Ramaswamy and Michelle King from Georgia; and Suhas Subramanyam and Kannan Srinivasan from Virginia.
Ahimsa graduate Saankhya Jalajam will be publishing a book of poems on the theme of Ahimsa to end gun violence. Ahimsa organization promotes marches, donations to fund candidates that support stricter gun laws, endorse candidates that support stricter gun laws like registering of each gun, mandatory safe storage of guns, not allowing concealed weapons, banning automatic assault weapons, universal background check and red flag laws. Ahimsa is partnering with Smart Program of Everytown for Gun Safety.
Our rights to walk safely, shop safely, learn safely, worship safely, even sleep safely are under attack due to rampant gun violence. The most powerful nation in the world is powerless regarding protecting its citizens against terrorism perpetrated by gun advocates -- NRA, gun manufacturers, gun lobbyists, and politicians who are hostage to gun lobbyists. The Democrats invariably favor tighter restrictions on gun purchases and ownership.
Republicans, with the support of gun rights groups, largely oppose strict laws in the name of the Second Amendment even though more than 70 per cent of people clearly opine in favor of having sensible gun laws enacted and then enforced.
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(The writer is a Fulbright-Nehru Senior Scholar (2016-17). He retired as Professor Emeritus of MIS at Long Island University Post. Photo courtesy: IIM-Ahmedabad)
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The views expressed are not necessarily those of The South Asian Times
