Why is it so hard for the U.S. to control guns?
为什么美国不禁枪？
英文部分：
Why is it so hard for the U.S. to control guns?
Gun violence, a problem that has haunted the U.S. for a fairly long period of time, has been more prominent during the past year.
According to statistics, over 40,000 Americans were killed due to gun violence in 2020, an average of more than 110 people per day.
A total of 611 mass shootings occurred in 2020, an average of more than 1.6 cases per day.
More than 23 million firearms were sold in 2020, a 64 percent increase from 2019.
How serious is the gun problem in the U.S.?
A study by Switzerland-based Small Arms Survey estimated that American civilians owned over 393 million firearms in 2017. With a total population of about 326 million, the U.S. ranked first in firearms per capita in the world.
According to the latest data of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, nearly 4.7 million Americans underwent background checks in connection with gun purchasing in March 2021, an increase of 36 percent from February.
Over 120 mass shootings have happened as of April 6 this year, resulting in more than 11,000 deaths, according to the statistics of Gun Violence Archive.
The huge number of guns and gun violence has caused serious consequences. On one hand, concerns about the threat of gun violence have led many people to buy guns for self-defense. On the other hand, the huge number of guns is itself becoming a critical concern for the high level of gun-related crimes. After each major shooting incident, Americans would debate over whether to control guns or not.
So what do Americans prefer for gun laws?
According to a Gallup poll, the latest majority of 57 percent Americans call for stricter laws covering the sale of firearms. About 34 percent of U.S. adults prefer that gun laws be kept as they are now, while 9 percent would like them to be less strict.
The current 22 percent of Republicans favoring stricter laws for gun sales is the lowest for the group over the past 20 years and represents a 14 percent drop since 2019.
The percentages of Democrats and independents calling for more gun control are near the highest recorded by Gallup since 2000. The 63-point gap between Republicans and Democrats is the highest on record over the past two decades.
More than half of Americans support stricter firearm sales law, but why is it so hard to control guns in America?
First, it is stipulated in the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution that, “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.”
So it makes Americans believe that owning guns is their right. The constitutions of 44 states in America clearly stipulate that citizens’ rights to hold guns should be protected.
However, the constitutional amendment in the United States is very complicated and the process is lengthy. It is almost unlikely to ban guns through constitutional amendments.
Second, political polarization in the United States has been serious in recent decades. The Democrats support gun control and advocate stricter gun control policies while the Republicans oppose gun control. Gun control has become one of the main issues in presidential and congressional elections, and has become an important factor in determining the success of elections.
U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has said there are “deep-seated philosophical differences between Republicans and Democrats about how to deal with gun violence” and that legislative solutions have been perplexing for stricter gun control.
Third, interest lobby groups are the greatest resistance to gun control in the United States, including the National Rifle Association (NRA), the National Shooting Sports Association, and the National Association for Gun Rights. Among them, the most influential one is the NRA.
According to American non-profit media outlet The Trace, NRA spent more than 50 million U.S. dollars to back Donald Trump and several Republican Senate candidates in 2016. In recent years, those interest groups represented by the NRA have lobbied and blocked almost all gun control laws, making gun control more difficult.
U.S. President Joe Biden has called for a ban on assault weapons and urged that the loopholes on the background check system be plugged after a mass shooting that left 10 people dead in Colorado in March.
“This is not, it should not be a partisan issue. This is an American issue. You’ll save lives, American lives. And we have to act. We should also ban assault weapons in the process,” said Biden.
Will the U.S. Senate pass the bills as Biden wishes? Let’s wait and see.
中文部分：
为什么美国不禁枪？
枪支泛滥引发的问题
美国要控制枪支有不少困难之处。美国长期以来一直存在着严重的枪支暴力问题，尤其是在过去一年更加突出。据统计，2020年有超过4万名美国人死于枪支暴力，平均每天超过110人。同年发生了611起大规模枪击事件，平均每天超过1.6起。2020年售出了超过2300万支枪支，比2019年增加了64%。
调查统计，2017年美国民众拥有超过3.93亿支枪支，是全球人均枪支最多的国家。根据美国联邦调查局的最新数据，仅2021年3月就有近470万美国人进行了涉及购买枪支的背景调查，较2月增加了36%。根据枪支暴力档案统计数据，截至今年4月6日，已发生了120多起大规模枪击事件，导致逾1.1万人死亡。巨大的枪支数量和枪击事件给社会带来严重后果，一方面，对枪支暴力的担忧导致很多人购买枪支用于自卫；另一方面，大量的枪支本身也成为高发枪支相关犯罪的重要原因。每次发生重大枪击事件后，美国人都会就是否控制枪支展开辩论。
关于枪支法律，根据民调，57%的美国人呼吁加强涵盖枪支销售的法律。约34%的成年美国人希望保持现行的枪支法律，而9%的人希望放宽限制。此外，共和党人中支持加强枪支法律的比例为22%，是过去20年来最低的，与2019年相比下降了14%。民主党人和无党派人士对加强枪支管控的呼声接近盖洛普自2000年以来的最高纪录。共和党人和民主党人之间在枪支问题上存在63点的差距，是过去20年来的最高纪录。
为什么在美国控制枪支如此困难呢？
第一，美国宪法第二修正案规定：“一个良好组织起来的民兵对于自由邦国的安全是必需的，人民持有和携带武器的权利不得侵犯。”这使得美国人认为拥有枪支是他们的权利。美国的44个州宪法明确规定应保护公民持枪的权利。
然而，美国的宪法修正案非常复杂，过程漫长。要通过宪法修正案来禁止枪支几乎是不可能的。
第二，近几十年来，美国的政治两极化问题严重。民主党支持枪支管控，并主张更严格的枪支控制政策，而共和党则反对枪支管控。枪支管控已经成为总统和国会选举中的主要议题，也成为决定选举成功与否的重要因素。
美国参议院少数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔表示，共和党和民主党在如何应对枪支暴力问题上存在“根深蒂固的哲学分歧”，立法解决方案对于更严格的枪支管控来说一直是棘手的。
第三，利益游说团体是美国枪支管控的最大阻力，其中包括全国步枪协会（NRA）、全国射击运动协会和全国枪权协会。其中，最有影响力的是NRA。
根据美国非营利媒体机构The Trace的数据，NRA在2016年为支持唐纳德·特朗普和数名共和党参议员候选人花费了超过5000万美元。近年来，以NRA为代表的这些利益团体通过游说和阻止几乎所有枪支管控法案，使得枪支管控更加困难。
美国总统乔·拜登在今年3月科罗拉多州发生导致10人死亡的大规模枪击事件后，呼吁禁止攻击性武器，并敦促修补背景调查系统上的漏洞。
拜登表示：“这不应该是一个党派问题。这是一个美国问题。我们将挽救生命，美国人的生命。我们必须行动起来。我们应该在这个过程中禁止攻击性武器。”
美国参议院是否会通过拜登期望的法案，让我们拭目以待。
