Weapons in the United States

By Guillermo Alvarado

The mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, asked the U.S. federal government for help to contain the traffic of firearms in that city, after several incidents occurred in the past few days that left a number of dead and wounded.

The official recalled that there is no firearms factory in that place and, in addition, very strict controls have been established for their sale and carrying, but thousands of them flow from the rest of the country by surreptitious means.

Adams' demand is clearly laudable, but it has very little chance of success in a country where the possession of firearms, and the violence generated by them, is rooted in the culture of the population and in the way in which the mechanisms of government function.

No administration in recent decades has succeeded in containing this plague, for the simple reason that manufacturers and dealers, through the National Rifle Association, are behind the campaigns to elect governors, senators, representatives and even presidents.

In this way, the northern nation became one of the largest arsenals in the entire planet, a trend that increases with the passage of time.

There are currently 120 weapons for every 100 inhabitants, including babies, children and the elderly.

According to international studies, the United States is the planet's main exporter of pistols, revolvers, rifles and machine guns, not counting, of course, heavy land, air and sea weapons.

Curiously, it is also the largest importer of these instruments, which represent an annual expenditure of 2.2 billion dollars, far ahead of the second on the list, Canada, with 350 million.

In other words, it is not only the one that produces and sells the most, but also the one that buys the most on the international market.

The social and human costs of this irrational behavior are evident. Just in the first two weeks of January 2022, 1,551 people were shot dead, which represents 110.8 human beings eliminated per day or, if you prefer to look at it this way, 4.6 every hour.

The statistics refer to those who are attacked for various reasons, or those who decide to end their own lives with the resource they have most at hand, a firearm.

Who will put the bell to the cat in this business that pays with so much blood and pain?  I confess, friends, that I do not have that answer.