Published on :
All week, France 24 has been crisscrossing the Mississippi River in the southern United States, on the occasion of the mid-term elections on November 8, to understand the issues. For the third episode of this series, US correspondent Fanny Allard traveled to St. Louis, Missouri, one of the cities most affected by gun violence.
St. Louis, Missouri is dubbed the “murder capital of America”. For good reason, in this conservative state where the laws on carrying weapons are among the most flexible in the country, the city is one of the most affected by violence by fire arms.
Illustration of this dark observation: last August, the eldest daughter of pastor Zacheriah Davis was killed by a stray bullet while she was driving on the public highway. According to her father, she “found herself in the middle of a settling of accounts”. A total of 157 people have been killed by firearms in Saint Louis since January.
After the killings in Uvalde, Texas, Joe Biden promised to ban assault weapons if the Democrats maintain their majority in Congress. What to make of the question one of the major issues of the midterm elections while 62% of the population want better regulation of firearms according to a Politico newspaper poll.