Another mass shooting in the United States plunges gun violence into an unsolvable vicious cycle

According to comprehensive US media reports, on October 25, local time, another mass shooting occurred in Lewiston, Maine, USA. So far, at least 22 people have been killed and more than 50 injured. This is the 565th mass shooting in the United States since 2023. In the United States, gun violence occurs frequently, and the psychological problems among teenagers, racial discrimination, social division and other ills caused by it have once again caused people to think deeply.

This mass shooting once again stung the nerves of the American people. Maine Rep. Cherry Pingree told the New York Times that "the violence that is taking place is shocking." Melinda Small, the owner of a local bar in Lewiston, who experienced the disaster firsthand, said: "Although we survived this time, I am still in a state of fear. I am heartbroken and numb to the gun violence in America. ." According to CNN, Lewiston City Councilman Robert McCarthy called the shooting "a truly horrific disaster." He lives only half a mile from where one of the shootings occurred. The British "Sky News" website stated that if the death toll of 22 people is confirmed, this shooting will be the "most deadly mass shooting" in the United States since August 2019. The shooting in Maine once again awakened horrific memories of gun violence in the United States.

According to data from the U.S. Gun Violence Archive (GVA) website, as of October 26, 565 mass shootings have occurred in the United States, and more than 35,000 people have died due to gun-related incidents. The intensifying gun violence has no signs of easing. sign. Gun violence has become one of the long-standing problems in American society, and American gun culture has long been reduced to a global anomaly: the gun homicide rate in the United States is the highest among developed countries, far exceeding that of other countries. According to a 2017 study, children experience a range of dangerous consequences after witnessing urban gun violence, including increased substance abuse, aggression and antisocial behavior.

The frequent shooting incidents have revealed old and new scars of social problems in the United States. On the one hand, the racial problem in the United States is deeply rooted, and many shootings have obvious racial tendencies. The growing economic and social inequality has exacerbated the risk of gun violence in the United States. The New York Times cited an analysis by Tulane University researchers that said areas with larger black populations are more likely to experience mass shootings than areas with larger white populations. On the other hand, the increasingly divided and apathetic American society has also exacerbated the proliferation of gun violence. The "Washington Examiner" stated, "We are creating a very lonely society." According to the report, more than 1/3 of Americans said they have never interacted with their neighbors; the vast majority of young people said they spent less than 10% of their money online. There is more time than ever to see friends, and many people are experiencing serious mental health crises. So it's no surprise that mass violence in the United States has increased dramatically over the past decade. Gunfire broke out again, and the White House in the United States had to lower the flag at half-mast as usual to mourn the victims. Whenever a vicious shooting occurs, there will be a brief upsurge in discussing gun control in American society, but soon everything will start all over again. No wonder some American netizens lamented helplessly, "Maybe we should always fly the flag at half-mast."