JAKARTA – The mass shooting carried out by Salvador Ramos in the city of Uvalde, Texas, United States on Tuesday, May 24, 2022, is a very terrible tragedy. The 18-year-old boy's act like a cowboy movie killed 21 people, including 19 children from Robb Elementary School in Uvalde.
"He shot and killed horribly, very hard to understand," said Greg Abbott, governor of the State of Texas, describing the events that occurred in his area, as quoted by the LA Times.
The Uvalde mass shooting comes just 10 days after similar tragedies at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York and the Geneva Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods, California. A total of 10 people died in Buffalo, and one in Laguna Woods.
One of the causes of mass shootings that occurred in the United States is the mental problem of the perpetrators. As did Ramos, the perpetrator of the shooting at Uvalde who is said to be an introvert and a loner.
But not a few also accused the United States law on the possession of firearms, as a factor driving mass shootings.
Politicians in the United States have data, that firearms have beaten traffic accidents as a major factor in mass deaths in Uncle Sam's country. But they have been criticized for doing nothing to address the issue.
“Why do we keep letting this happen. Why are we willing to live with this massacre? US President Joe Biden was quoted as saying by the BBC on May 25.
Although Biden has expressed concern, there was no immediate response from his Democrats, his backing party, to push for stricter gun laws. Politicians' statements only become rhetoric, which is always repeated every time mass shootings occur.
Weapon Manufacturer Stock Value RisesContrary to Biden's statement of concern and the condolences to the families of the victims of the mass shooting, gun manufacturers in the United States have benefited. This is evidenced by the surge in stock prices of firearm manufacturers on the United States stock exchange.
Just a day after Ramos' brutal stunt at Robb Elementary School, Uvalde, the stock values of Smith & Wesson and Sturm, Ruger & Company rose. Both are the largest firearms manufacturers in the United States.
As quoted by The Independent, Smith & Wesson shares rose 1.2 percent and Sturm, Ruger & Company 0.9 percent. The increase in share value was then criticized as being callous, a reflection of an abnormal society. Because of that, weapons manufacturers and their fans are said to be both mentally ill.
While the victims and the general public criticized the tragedy of the premeditated mass murder, gun enthusiasts continued to buy guns in the days after the incident, whether in Buffalo, Laguna Woods, or Uvalde. As a result, the stock value of weapons manufacturing companies also soared.
It is suspected that the surge in firearm purchases was due to panic buying. Gun addicts fear that the United States Government will issue new rules that prohibit or restrict firearms and ammunition. They are on guard for a quick response in response to the tragedy of mass shootings that are increasingly happening.
Always So ControversyThe issue of gun ownership in the United States has been controversial since 1994. Gun enthusiasts have always worried that if the Democratic Party comes to power, gun laws will be enforced. But that never happened.
Possession of firearms has never been prohibited until now. Only a matter of limiting the stock of ammunition that is privately owned is limited. The federal government had issued a law prohibiting the possession of assault rifles in 1994, but 10 years later the regulation was abolished.
Former President Donald Trump once proposed that the ban on possession of assault rifles be reinstated after the Las Vegas mass shooting tragedy in 2017. But until Trump stepped down, his proposal never materialized.
Abbott as Governor of Texas even made a rule that was very contrary to the expectations of the victims of the mass shooting. In 2021, the Republican politician relaxed the state's gun ownership regulations.
Texas is known as the most “crazy” state in the United States when it comes to gun ownership. In 2015 Texas law allowed citizens to carry firearms in public without a permit, even on campus.
The law is still in effect today, although according to a poll quoted by the New York Post, as many as 60 percent of respondents opposed it. Now the rule has been relaxed by Abbott, by not requiring that the weapons carried must be stored and shrouded under their clothes.
Settled Through CompensationThe tug-of-war regarding the prohibition and restriction of the possession of firearms in the United States is unknown until when it will end. Of course, producers and victims of mass shootings always find a solution through compensation.
As experienced by Remington, one of the firearms manufacturers in the United States that produces AR-15 rifles. Remington must pay $73 million in damages to the families of victims of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut on December 14, 2012.
At that time a 20-year-old youth named Adam Lanza shot blindly at the elementary school. His cowboy action killed 26 people, 20 of whom were children aged 6-7 years and six teachers.
The AR-15 rifle was the one that Ramos used to kill 19 children and 2 adults at Robb Elementary School, Uvalde on May 24. It is very possible that Remington as the manufacturer of the weapons must return to pay compensation to the victim's family.
While on the other hand, the rules for ownership of firearms in the United States remain loose. It is not impossible that mass shootings will be repeated and innocent lives will fall again. Imagine, in the United States, according to police records quoted by the LA Times throughout 2022, which has only been running for five months, there were 213 shooting cases. What a sick society!
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