Land of the free, if you survive
Another day, another murder, and the occasional political assassination attempt. It’s notable that only the young are surprised. After all, this is the “home of the brave” as the American national anthem goes.
So let’s take a look at statistics. Last year, a little over 40,000 people were killed by guns in the United States. Some were children, murdered at school. In 2023, for the third year in a row, school shootings reached new highs, with over 340 school shootings recorded. [Source: K-12 School Shooting Database.]
It’s a well-known fact that the United States, leader in so many ways, ranks highest in the number of children’s deaths caused by gun violence. In fact, guns are responsible for the highest number of deaths of children in America. Apparently, some representatives of gun advocacy groups stated that this is untrue. The reason was that sometimes eighteen-year-olds are not considered to be children. So allow me to rephrase. Gun violence in the number one killer of children and teens in the United States.
But not only in schools. There have been more than 630 mass shootings across the US so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting in which four or more people are injured or killed. The killings may be snipers in malls, at pizza parlors, in churches. Anywhere, really.
Today we, in Europe, woke up with the shocking and devastating news of the attempted assassination of the presumptive GOP nominee for presidential election. Allow me to correct this. We were indeed devastated, but not shocked. After all, four presidents who were in office were murdered by firearms: Presidents Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, and Kennedy. Three more were injured but not killed: President Reagan while in office, and two out of office: Theodore Roosevelt and Donald Trump.
I was still so young when the announcement came over the loud speaker in my schoolroom. President John F. Kennedy, my idol, was assassinated at the age of 46. And then his assassin was soon shot to death. And then there was Martin Luther King, Jr in 1968. And Bobby Kennedy two months later.
The United States has been rocked by this latest assassination attempt. People are asking how this could have happened. Are they serious? Yes, murders can happen by knives also. But what are the chances of that?
Gun laws are passed through legislation governing their sales, the types of guns, the ages of those who wish to purchase. Bullets are now available at your local grocery school in vending machines. As one can buy sodas, one can buy bullets.
One gun advocacy group alone, the National Rifle Association, has contributed almost $30,000,000 million to congressional candidates. A list of these candidates who received campaign money from the NRA is from the nonpartisan group OpenSecrets. The source of their findings is Federal Election Commission.
It is reported that one member of Congress, Senator Marco Rubio, now being considered by Donald Trump’s to become his Vice President, has received $3,303,355 from the National Rifle Association.
Americans should not be surprised any longer by the power of money and the cost of power.
Tenia Christopoulos is a freelance writer from Washingtonian, DC, who lives in Athens. She is a contributor to Kathimerini, The Washington Post, Insider Magazine and Tatler, and is the author of “Lords of the Dance.”
