Visitors for 2026 World Cup, 2028 Olympics must be warned about U.S. gun violence: USA Today

Passersby walk past gun-free zone signages near Times Square in New York, the United States, Sept. 1, 2022. (Photo by Michael Nagle/Xinhua)

If we're going to point the finger at other countries, it's about time we're honest about ourselves.

NEW YORK, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- The United States needs a warning label before the men's World Cup in 2026 and the Los Angeles Olympics two years later, said an opinion piece published by USA Today on Tuesday.

Something like, "Gun violence is rampant and mass shootings occur frequently, with no predictability of when or where. Anyone can be a victim, even in seemingly safe havens such as schools, churches, synagogues, temples, grocery stores, farms, libraries, medical offices, concerts, movie theaters, malls, bowling alleys, yoga studios, nightclubs and restaurants," said the article.

"No doubt gun fanatics and those who have bastardized the Second Amendment will howl. But if we're going to point the finger at other countries, it's about time we're honest about ourselves," it noted.

Before almost every international sporting event, Americans are warned about the dangers that might befall them while they're there, it said.

"How are those worse, or even more likely in most cases, than the gun violence that occurs with appalling frequency here in our country and that we refuse to do anything about?" it added.