Gun violence has killed more children and destroyed another community.

 

Mourners in Uvalde, Texas.Marco Bello/Reuters

Dozens, every day

Nineteen children were murdered in Uvalde, Texas, yesterday. They were elementary school students, attending their last week of classes before summer vacation, when an 18-year-old gunman came through the door and began shooting.

He also killed two adults, including a teacher, and appears to have shot his grandmother in her home before going to the school. At least three kids are in critical condition.

By now, the story of American gun violence is unsurprising. Mass shootings happen frequently. The list from just the past decade includes supermarkets in Buffalo and in Boulder, Colo.; a rail yard in San Jose, Calif.; a birthday party in Colorado Springs; a convenience store in Springfield, Mo.; a synagogue in Pittsburgh; churches in Sutherland Springs, Texas, and in Charleston, S.C.; a Walmart in El Paso; a FedEx warehouse in Indianapolis; a music festival in Las Vegas; massage parlors in the Atlanta area; a Waffle House in Nashville; a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla.; and a movie theater in Aurora, Colo.

Even school shootings happen often enough that we know some of the names: Sandy Hook Elementary School, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Oxford High School, Santa Fe High School, Columbine High School. Robb Elementary School in Uvalde has joined this horrific list.

If American gun violence is no longer surprising, it still is shocking. On an average day in the U.S., more than 35 people are murdered with a gun. No other affluent country in the world has a gun homicide rate nearly as high. Consider this chart, by my colleague Ashley Wu:

Chart shows select countries with a G.D.P. per capita of at least $30,000. | Sources: Our World in Data; World Bank

As bad as it is, the chart underplays the toll, for two reasons. It covers 2019, and gun violence has surged since the pandemic, for a complex mix of reasons that German Lopez has explained. The chart also does not include suicides and accidental shootings. Altogether, guns killed about 45,000 Americans last year.

“Nowhere else do little kids go to school thinking that they might be shot that day,” Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut said in a speech last night.

Why is the U.S. such an outlier? The main reasons, studies suggest, are the sheer number of guns in this country and the loose laws about obtaining and using them.

No doubt, this latest tragedy will lead to more debate about whether those laws should meaningfully change. After other recent shootings, the country’s answer was no.

More on the shooting

“I am sick and tired of it,” President Biden said. “We have to act. And don’t tell me we can’t have an impact on this carnage.” Senate Democrats pushed for a vote on legislation that would strengthen background checks, which the House first passed in 2019. The Uvalde massacre is the second-deadliest school shooting on record, behind Sandy Hook a decade ago. Eva Mireles, a fourth-grade teacher, was killed while trying to protect her students, according to a relative. Anguished families waited late into the night to find out whether their children were among those killed. The authorities identified the gunman as Salvador Ramos, who had attended a nearby high school. He died at the scene. “I guess it’s something in society we know will happen again, over and over.” Parents of the Sandy Hook victims grappled with another shooting. Texas has some of the country’s least-restrictive gun laws: Nearly anyone over 21 can carry a handgun without a license. “I’m tired of the moments of silence. Enough.” Steve Kerr, coach of the Golden State Warriors, made an emotional plea for gun control measures.

Opinions

Our former colleague Nicholas Kristof has explained what policy changes can reduce mass shootings. Pass and enforce red-flag laws now, David French of The Dispatch writes.