Guns are the things most likely to kill young people in America

ON MAY 24TH an 18-year-old gunman, Salvador Ramos, walked into an elementary school in Uvalde, a town in south-west Texas, and shot dead at least 21 people, including 19 children. Mr Ramos was himself killed, reportedly by police. His motive remains unclear. It is the latest in a spate of mass shootings in America, and the toll is the biggest at a school since a gunman killed 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012.

In the decade since Sandy Hook there have been over 900 shootings on school grounds in America. After more than 60 years in which motor-vehicle crashes were the leading cause of death for young people, since 2017 guns have killed more Americans between the ages of one and 24. In 2020 more than 10,000 young Americans were killed by firearms, up from just under 7,000 two decades earlier. Pupils at almost all schools take part in active-shooter drills, learning to hide beneath their desks. Some drills use pellet guns and fake blood to simulate an attack.

Regulations on guns have been loosened in much of America over the past 20 years. A bill that aimed to introduce universal background checks on gun sales failed to pass the Senate in 2013. Although last year 27 states and Washington, DC passed 75 laws to increase gun safety, according to the Giffords Law Centre to Prevent Gun Violence, a pressure group, several states, including Texas, have moved in the opposite direction. The Lone Star State now allows “permitless carry”—ie, people over 21 can carry guns in public with no permit or training, provided that they are not otherwise banned from owning a firearm. In 2021 19 states passed a total of 64 laws to reduce restrictions on guns.

Despite a level of gun violence unimaginable in most rich countries, Americans are divided on how to proceed. Only 52% favour stricter gun controls, down from 67% in 2018, according to a recent Gallup poll. The gap between Democrats and Republicans is widening. After the Uvalde shooting Ted Cruz, a Republican senator for Texas, accused Democrats of politicising mass shootings and attempting to “restrict the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens”.

There are elements of gun control on which most Americans agree. A recent poll by Pew Research Centre, a think-tank, found widespread support for background checks on those who buy guns privately or at gun shows. Although tighter background checks would be a welcome step, the evidence on whether they prevent mass shootings is patchy. Without action at the national level, the tragic events in Uvalde will be repeated again and again. ■

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Correction (May 25th 2022): The number of deaths in school shootings in 2022 on the right-hand chart panel has been amended.