Gun violence remains intractable problem in US

Cartoon by Tan Xiguang

Shooting incidents are often found this year in the headlines of newspapers in the U.S. While gun violence continues to increase across the country, gun control is still a distant prospect.

According to the Gun Violence Archive, as of Dec. 18, at least 41,344 people had died from gun violence in the U.S. this year, with 640 massive shootings recorded. By American standards, a mass shooting is defined as an incident of gun violence in which a minimum of four victims are injured or killed, excluding the shooter. A total of 1,338 teenagers and 286 children had been killed.

In the U.S., gunshots can be heard at any moment. And the tragedy keeps repeating itself in different settings. The deeply-rooted gun culture, along with increasing social inequality, racial tensions, and mounting cost-of-living pressures, all contribute to the escalation of gun violence in the U.S. The repeated failure of gun control legislation in the country has further exacerbated the issue, making gun violence an intractable problem.