Safeguard children from America's gun culture

No matter how desensitized one gets to news of mass shootings in the United States, it still breaks one's heart to hear how a one-year-old and three others aged under 17 were injured in the latest incident in Hollywood, Florida, on Tuesday.

Children are like sitting ducks during mass shootings as they can't flee as swiftly as adults. Just a year ago, on May 24, a single shooter gunned down 19 teenagers and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

To make matters worse, some in the US associate access to guns and ability to shoot with masculinity. A bigger tragedy than young people being shot is being shot by young people.

In June 2022, a New York Times report found that six of the nine deadliest mass shootings in the US, from 2018 to 2022, were carried out by people aged 21 or younger.

Despite the public outcry by those demanding gun control, the gun culture in the US is not going away any time soon, while some even advocate it for no good reason. The JR-15 rifle developed for children is a disgrace that will be spat at centuries later.

Threatened by the easy access to guns plus the distorted gun culture, children in the US are the biggest victims.

Among the 19,000 child and teenage victims of gun violence every year, there might have been future lawyers, astronauts, scientists or presidents, whose loss will hinder the growth of talents in the US.

As we mark the 73rd International Children's Day on Thursday, it is time for the US government to take action if it doesn't want its 73 million children to live surrounded by trigger-happy people with guns.