The Texas shooting in the US, where five people including an eight-year-old child were killed by a neighbour, has brought the problems of gun culture and the resultant mass shooting to the foreground, once again.
The drunken gunman, suspected to be behind the crime, stormed into the crowded house and opened fire with his semi-automatic weapon after the neighbours complained over the noise in his yard.
The Texas killing is one of the latest in a series of shootings in the US, where there have been more than 170 mass shootings, defined as four or more people wounded or killed, so far this year.
Though there have been several voices against mass shootings in general and gun laws in particular, the use of assault rifles goes mostly unchecked in the country with a vast gun culture.
When it comes to the gun culture in America, the AR-15 has been the most ubiquitous and controversial weapon, with a major role in some of the country’s worst mass shootings.
All about the AR-15
AR-15 has often been lauded as “America’s Rifle” and vilified as the weapon of choice for mass shooters.
The gun, which became available in the 1950s, is one of the most popular among gun owners in the US and there are over tens of millions currently in circulation.
These guns fire one bullet per trigger pull and automatically reload for a subsequent shot. It can also fire 30 rounds fast without reloading.
A 2022 survey said that around 20 percent of the US gun owners owned AR-15s. Another study said that one in every 20 Americans owns one AR-15.
Used in Worst Mass Shootings
The infamous AR-15 is designed, like its military version, to kill people quickly and in large numbers, hence it is called assault-style rifle.
The gun, popular among hunters and gun enthusiasts, has been used in frequent mass shootings resulting in the deaths of hundreds of civilians across the United States.
It has been used in some of the worst massacres in recent US history, including the 2012 shooting at Sandyhook elementary school in Connecticut, where 26 people were killed, 20 of them small children.
It was also used in the 2018 Parkland school shooting in Florida, which left 17 dead. In 2017, during Las Vegas slaughter, 58 people died of the shooting from the rifle. Similarly in the Orlando nightclub shooting in 2016, 49 people died of the rifle.
Bans in Progress
Earlier this month, Washington state became the 10th in the nation to ban the sale of certain semi-automatic rifles. However, the legislation does not ban possession but rather the sale and transfer of assault weapons.
The Washington law blocks the sale, distribution, manufacture and importation of more than 50 gun models, including AR-15s, AK-47s and similar style rifles.
Nine states including California, New York and Massachusetts, along with the District of Columbia, have already passed similar bans. Colorado is also debating about similar gun measures.
Bill Clinton Banned AR-15
In 1994, then US President Bill Clinton signed an assault weapons ban, which banned the AR-15 and other similar semiautomatic rifles for ten years.
During the ban, mass shootings were down in the decade. However, when the law expired in 2004, gun manufacturers quickly began production and sales rose.
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