The shooting that occurred on Monday in Illinois has rekindled the debate on the firearms trade in the United States. Despite repeated dramas, American presidents have all been powerless to regulate the sector.
Repeated shootings without anything changing. At least six people were killed and 24 injured in a shooting in the northern United States on Monday during an Independence Day parade, authorities said.
A sea serpent of American politics
Regulating the carrying of weapons is a sea serpent of American politics, and many presidents have broken their teeth there. Already in 1994, Joe Biden, then chairman of the Senate Justice Committee, had adopted a text banning assault weapons. But the Republicans had succeeded in adding an expiry date to it and ten years later, the text became obsolete.
During the 2020 presidential campaign, the Democrat promised to act. But in the absence of a strong parliamentary majority in Congress, he could only settle for micro-measures, such as those tightening the regulation of weapons sold in kit form, known as “ghosts”.
His predecessor Barack Obama did no better. Its law imposing the control of the psychiatric antecedents of the purchasers of weapons had also come up against the refusal of the congress.
A right rooted in American culture
If it is so difficult to regulate the sector, it is because the carrying of arms is deeply rooted in American culture. While 30% of adults own at least one firearm, politicians do not hesitate to stage themselves, gun in hand, in their campaign clips. In 2015, Texas senator Ted Cruz demonstrated in a video, for example, how to cook bacon by wrapping it around the barrel of his assault rifle.
The carrying of arms is enshrined in the famous Second Amendment of the Constitution, according to which “the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed”. “The pro-weapons take it literally by reclaiming American history on their own: the settlers defended themselves with arms against the British, allowing the birth of the United States. Thus, carrying a weapon has become a defense approach in the American tradition, “explained last year the political scientist specializing in the United States. Jean-Eric Branaa.
Considered the most powerful lobby in the world, the National Riffle Association (NRA) fiercely defends the Second Amendment. With its 5 million members and its annual budget of 300 million dollars, the NRA exerts a strong influence on the political world.
Last obstacle to regulation, the Supreme Court, dominated by conservative judges since the mandate of Donald Trump.
On June 24, in the wake of the massacre in a school in Texas, in Uvalde, the Supreme Court of the United States has also enshrined the right to carry a firearm anywhere outside your home.
This decision by the highest court in the country safeguarded the principle of total freedom to carry a weapon. US President Joe Biden said he was “deeply disappointed” about it.