Shameful that US can't protect its children

Do something serious! Get some work done! That's what the crowd shouted angrily at US President Joe Biden as he visited the families of the victims of the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas, on Sunday. That's the voice of ordinary US citizens who have suffered too much from gun violence. But the question is, can US politicians respond to their calls for gun control?

One week ago, 19 students and two teachers were killed in a school shooting that shocked the world, prompting some US media outlets to raise the question "What kind of a civilized country is the United States if it can't protect its children?"

The Robb Elementary School shooting was the 137th school shooting in the United States so far this year, and one of the three worst school shootings in the US over the past decade. The 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, left 26 dead, and the 2018 shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, killed 17.

The loss of young lives to gun violence causes great pain to their families, and it should also deeply trouble the conscience of US politicians who are forever talking about "democracy" and "human rights".

Children embody a nation's hopes for the future. The care extended to them shows the level of human rights in a country. As the world's only superpower, the US has been unable to protect its children for a long time. The "human rights" the US politicians talk about do not include vulnerable groups, and an important connotation of the "democracy" they speak of is not to let the people rule the country, but only the interest groups behind guns.

The US accounts for 4 percent of the world's population, but it owns more than 400 million guns, about 46 percent of the total number of private firearms in the world. Gun violence is a chronic disease in US society. It is the result of the deterioration of public security, intensified racial conflicts and violent law enforcement.

The numbers are staggering, but they don't change anything. Gun control laws and regulations in the US are extremely loose. No wonder people say that it is easier to buy a gun than a beer in the US.

After every mass shooting tragedy, US politicians respond to them with a three-pronged ritual of prayer, consolation and speeches. They do not want to lose votes, and they cannot resolve the conflicts between some local and federal governments on the issue. Not to mention the intertwined interests of US gun manufacturers and the political circle. That's why gun violence has become a "black hole" in US society.

Incredibly, just three days after the Robb Elementary School shooting, the National Rifle Association held its annual meeting in Houston, just four hours away by car. The NRA said in a statement that the latest school shooting was the work of an isolated, deranged criminal. Texas Governor Tony Abbott canceled his attendance at the conference under pressure, but still delivered his remarks via video link. No wonder some US media commented that the US' greatest shame is that it has become ungovernable because of the country's unwillingness to protect and care for its citizens－women, minorities, and especially children.