Gun terror in the US: How the country failed to protect over 6,000 children in 2022

America has for long had a problem with guns and gun violence. This is known to those with even a cursory knowledge of the United States. But new research is shining a spotlight on how badly America has failed to protect its children from this terror. Lat’s take a closer look: According to the Gun Violence Archive, 6,024 children were killed or injured by guns this year.

That number is the highest since 2014, when the non-profit first began keeping records.

This figure also includes the 19 students killed in the May school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. While 306 kids aged 11 and younger died by gunfire in 2022,  another 1,323 children between 12 and 17 were killed in shootings this year One of the youngest victims, five-month-old Cecilia Thomas, was killed in a drive-by in Chicago while sitting in her car. In 2021, 5,708 children were killed or hurt by weapons. Where does the US stand on guns? The Uvalde massacre, the deadliest school shooting since Sandy Hook a decade ago, sent shockwaves through the United States and prompted cries from families of the victims and human rights’ groups to President Joe Biden to ‘do something’. After politicians from both sides held closed-door talks and reached a compromise, Biden in June signed a gun violence bill into law. That law toughens background checks for the youngest gun buyers, keeps firearms from more domestic violence offenders and helps states put in place red flag laws that make it easier for authorities to take weapons from people it judges as dangerous. The $13 billion in funding provided under the law is meant to fund and help bolster mental health programs and aid schools targeted in Newtown, Connecticut, and Parkland, Florida, and elsewhere in mass shootings. “Time is of the essence. Lives will be saved,” Biden said in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in June. Citing the families of shooting victims he has met, the president said, “Their message to us was, ‘Do something.’ How many times did we hear that? ‘Just do something. For God’s sake, just do something.’ Today we did.”

But the truth is that not much has changed.

That is because the compromise law did not target assault-style weapons like the AR-15 and its large capacity magazines – used in both the Uvalde and Buffalo shootings – or even raise the legal age for purchasing them to over 21. [caption id=“attachment_11882571” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Graphic: Pranay Bhardwaj[/caption] Such assault rifles, which remain easily available, are popular and powerful semi-automatic weapons that can fire high-capacity magazines. While Democrats want to ban high capacity magazines and expand  background checks, the chances of passing such a bill both in the House and Senate range from slim to non-existent. Even if by some miracle the Democrats manage to pass such laws, the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice John Roberts with a massive Conservative majority is likely to strike it down as unconstitutional. What do experts say? That politicians need to listen to doctors. Christopher Colwell, MD, chief of emergency medicine at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center, told website MedPage Today in May that the US is in a “far, far worse place” than in 1999 when assault weapons were banned on a federal level. Colwell, told the website he sees a disturbing pattern emerging – a traumatic mass shooting, public cries for change and then people just moving on. Colwell said these weapons, due to their power and firing speed, inflict ‘catastrophic damage’ on victims – making it extremely difficult for emergency responders to save lives. “The voice of the physician is a really important one to include, in large part because we’re seeing a lot of things that many can’t,” Colwell told the website. With inputs from agencies Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook ,  Twitter  and  Instagram .