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Fifty nine killed and at least 527 people injured. These are the latest casualties in America's worst shooting incident that happened on October 1 at the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Police identified 64-year-old Stephen Paddock as the gunman, who shot himself before the police could get to his hotel room from where he fired.
At least 23 firearms, including a handgun, were found in Paddock’s hotel suite, and 19 more firearms at his home. There have been at least 273 mass shootings in the US since the beginning of the year, according to not-for-profit organization Gun Violence Archive.
It has been heart-breaking to see the images of the shooting and hear survivors and eye-witnesses talking about how they survived and helped each other in times like this.
However, there is the big question the answer of which just eludes us: Why after so many deadly gun attacks, are there still mass shootings in the US?
According to BBC, the US has approximately 300 million guns – nearly one for every member of the population. In the latest Gallup numbers, 55 percent of people said they wanted stricter gun laws while just 10 percent wanted less strict laws.
One in three said they would prefer the law to stay as it is. US society is divided over the issue. But one thing is for sure: A place where gun violence is the new normal is not a place where one wants to live in.
In Europe, it is not like this, nor is it like this in most of the rest of the world for that matter.
Sadly, the US, a country that prides itself on being the policeman of the world, does a pretty bad job policing itself.
What will it take for the US to understand the problem it is facing and take the audacious decisions necessary to stop it from getting worse?
Unfortunately, with society more polarized than ever before, in a political system where voter support is more important than what is good for the country in the long run, it looks likely that gun violence will continue to haunt America in the years to come.
(CGTN)
