AMERICA’S FASCINATION WITH GUNS
By Vincent Lyn
I was visiting my father for his 85th birthday in Southern Florida, a state where there’s a gun show every other weekend. After recently returning from Ukraine a country steeped in war. I was asked by officials in the city of Lviv, Ukraine if I could find a supplier in America to supply body armor, tactical vests, knee pads and elbow pads.
A few years ago I went to my first gun show in Florida but only out of curiosity. I was bewildered not only at the amount and array of every type of gun (handguns, semi-automatics, shotguns, AR-15, AK 47 of all different stock types some made in China, Russia, Serbia and many other countries from Eastern Europe. Also on sale was body armor, kevlar, helmets, everything you need to start a small war.
I went to a gun show held at the Miramar National Guard Armory. Many of the vehicles in the parking lot had government license plates so that made me feel a little at ease that I wasn’t walking into a Wild West Show. I only found one vendor who I’ll call Mike (not his real name) who had tactical vests and after talking with him found out he’s a former marine who was in Afghanistan and Iraq so there was lots to talk about. He told me that because of the war in Ukraine, body armor is on backorder because all the neighboring NATO countries like Poland, Scandinavia, Baltic States, etc have been buying up whatever supplies there are. He told me that two million vests were on back order so basically there’s no supply. His tactical vests were good quality and I asked him how much they were. He told me $50, so I said if I bought ten he’d drop the price to $40. I also asked him if he can ship them to NYC because I will need a lot more, possibly 100 so he’ll drop the price to $30 and I also need tactical knee and elbow pads.
While he called his partner to bring ten vests from the warehouse I couldn’t help but look around at the buzzing energy and all types of people these gun shows bring. It’s all sorts, business types, young millennials, blue collar workers and what I would call a lot of undesirables who definitely should not own any firearm. Even the vendor said he will never sell any weapon to what he deemed as unstable. But most vendors are there to sell guns to whomever has the cash. Pretty scary if you ask me.
A vendor from the next aisle, a young attractive female walked over and like most vendors they are holstered with their gun of choice. But she knew Mike and proceeded to pull out her weapon thankfully not wave it around but with the line of sight pointed towards the ground. It made me feel a little uncomfortable and I said to her please don’t do that, I just returned from Ukraine. She answered, oh it’s okay not to worry. I’ve heard that before. Mike told me he had taught her how to hold the gun properly, which makes me wonder when was her first lesson and how much training she had. From what I saw it didn’t seem like very much. She was excited, happily flitting around and holstered her weapon and went back to her table. I only have one word: bizarre. I waited about an hour and counted the vests placed in a huge black heavyweight trash bag. Because of my purchase he gave me a free pair of tactical gloves as I had given mine away in Ukraine and a folding knife. Mike said, “you can never have enough knives on you and if you don’t need it I’m sure you can find someone who needs it.” On his table he had smoke grenades and flash bang grenades for the unit price of $50. So, I could’ve walked out of there with a case of flash bang grenades but in order to do that I first have to read and sign a form and watch a video. WTH. Once again bizarre!
What is it with America’s fascination with guns, it really is bizarre? Having grown up in the U.K where gun ownership like the rest of Europe and most of the world is a no no. Having been in war zones in Syria, South Sudan, Nigeria, Libya, Ukraine etc I understand when it’s full blown civil war, conflict, and all out war. But America is at war with itself. The U.S population is 333 million and of the 393 million firearms in the U.S., only 6.06 million of them are registered. According to the Pew Research Center, handguns are the most common type of firearm among gun owners. About 39% of men and 22% of women say they own a firearm.
American civilians own nearly 100 times as many firearms as the U.S. military and nearly 400 times as many as law enforcement. Americans bought more than 2 million guns in May 2018, more than twice the total number of arms possessed by law enforcement agencies in the United States combined.
More Americans died of gun-related injuries in 2020 than in any other year on record, according to recently published statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That included a record number of gun murders, as well as a near-record number of gun suicides. Despite the increase in such fatalities, the rate of gun deaths — a statistic that accounts for the nation’s growing population — remains below the levels of earlier years.
In 2020, the most recent year for which complete data is available, 45,222 people died from gun-related injuries in the U.S., according to the CDC. That figure includes gun murders and gun suicides, along with three other, less common types of gun-related deaths tracked by the CDC: those that were unintentional, those that involved law enforcement and those whose circumstances could not be determined. The total excludes deaths in which gunshot injuries played a contributing, but not principal, role.
The 45,222 total gun deaths in 2020 were by far the most on record, representing a 14% increase from the year before, a 25% increase from five years earlier and a 43% increase from a decade prior. Gun murders, in particular, have climbed sharply in recent years. The 19,384 gun murders that took place in 2020 were the most since at least 1968, exceeding the previous peak of 18,253 recorded by the CDC in 1993. The 2020 total represented a 34% increase from the year before, a 49% increase over five years and a 75% increase over 10 years. The number of gun suicides has also risen in recent years — climbing 10% over five years and 25% over 10 years — and is near its highest point on record. The 24,292 gun suicides that took place in 2020 were the most in any year except 2018, when there were 24,432.
A lot has been said about gun control in America. In the wake of the recent mass shooting and the 10 people killed, and an additional three injured, make last weekend's racially motivated attack at a Buffalo, N.Y., supermarket the deadliest mass shooting of the year in the United States.
It is also the 198th mass shooting in 2022. With just over 19 weeks into the year, this averages out to about 10 such attacks a week.
More will be said but nothing will be done: the President went on TV to condemn the killings and offer his condolences to the bereaved and the people will bury and mourn the dead until the next time. And there will be a next time and another next time ad infinitum until all the guns are taken off the people. Perhaps it’s time to repeal the Second Amendment which allows people to freely buy guns as suggested by Michael Moore, the U.S filmmaker.
Firearms ownership should be limited to the security services who need them to maintain law and order: when you have a third of the population running around with firearms it complicates things; everybody becomes a potential target as everybody is a potential murderer.
You can’t have your cake and eat it: if Americans want to carry guns, people will die — sometimes en masse!
Vincent Lyn
CEO/Founder at We Can Save Children
International Human Rights Commission
Director of Creative Development at African Views Organization
Economic & Social Council at United Nations
Editor in Chief & Middle East Correspondent at Wall Street News Agency
Rescue & Recovery Specialist at International Confederation of Police & Security Experts