Gun violence in US a threat to human rights: researcher

BRUSSELS -- Gun violence in the United States is a threat to human rights and the country's social fabric, according to a university researcher in the Netherlands.

Doreen Chowdhury, a doctoral researcher at the University of Groningen, believes that the US should impose more stringent rules and regulations on owning and possessing firearms.

In an article published on Sunday on moderndiplomacy.eu, Chowdhury wrote that although the number of gun violence incidents was on the rise every year in the US, only 50 percent of people wanted stricter rules on gun use.

According to her analysis, the authorities ought to focus on reducing tensions by curbing supremacy and insecurity among the country's ethnic groups.

She held that although the US was the "Champion of Human Rights" in the global arena, with the current Biden administration centering its foreign policy on democracy and human rights, it seemed to be doing very little to curb violence domestically.

"It is yet to make a very progressive decision regarding stricter laws. So, the US should focus on its domestic condition while promoting the very same policy in its foreign policy," she wrote.

The article was penned following the recent shootings in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24 and again in Tulsa a week later. In the former, the shooter killed 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school while the incident in Tulsa left another five victims.

"Keeping" a gun is a part of the US lifestyle, she said as she traced its history. Latest figures show that the US now has 120 guns per 100 populations, a number even higher than Yemen, a country currently in a civil war.

Between 1968 and 2021, 1.5 million people died from gun-related injuries. In 2020 alone, 45,000 people died from homicide or suicide by guns, an all-time high.

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the US has experienced around 345 mass shootings that killed 1,024 victims and injured approximately 1,828 people in the last two decades.

Chowdhury wrote that such shooting incidents are violating child rights and making children the victim, with schools being seen as easy targets.

Research shows that gun-related violence against children was increasing, climbing by 13.5 percent between 2019 and 2020 and by 30 percent among children and adolescents.

She held that gun ownership has made crime easier to commit in the US.