In Texas, it takes 5 clicks to buy a weapon
In Texas, and beyond, buying a weapon online is as simple as buying a pair of shoes: in addition to the use of weapons in general, the number of teenagers involved in massacres such as those in Buffalo and Uvalde. Facts, numbers and comments
On May 24, Salvador Ramos, an 18-year-old from Uvalde, a Texas town of 15,000 inhabitants, opened fire at Robb Elementary School, killing 19 children and two teachers.
Quartz did an experiment: buy the same weapon used by the killer. And it wasn't that difficult.
THE SECOND MOST SERIOUS SHOOTING IN A US SCHOOL
"It is the worst killing in a school since 2012, when Adam Lanza killed 20 children and 6 adults in elementary school in Sandy Hook, Connecticut and comes a few days after the one in a Buffalo supermarket, in which 10 people died", wrote the New York Times .
Ramos, a former student of the same school where he carried out the massacre, according to the Texan authorities , entered the building without encountering obstacles and was then killed by special teams which, however, according to the NYT , arrived only an hour later. provoking the anger of the victims' families.
THE WORDS OF BIDEN
President Joe Biden, in a speech to the nation, said that "the idea that an 18-year-old can walk into a store and buy a gun is wrong" and added that "it is time to turn pain into action and act on weapons ".
However, according to the Houston Chronicle , "Democrats do not have the votes needed to pass new laws and it seems very unlikely that Republicans will agree to cooperate."
TEXAS AND ITS PERMISSIVE WEAPONS LAWS
Texas, by the way, is one of the states with the most lax gun laws in the United States. As Internazionale recalls, in 2021, Republican Governor Greg Abbott signed a law that eliminated the obligation for Texans to obtain a firearms license, allowing practically anyone over 21 to carry a gun at all times. weapon with him.
The ease with which a gun can be purchased has resulted in several shootings in Texas in recent years.
BUYING A WEAPON IN TEXAS IS LIKE PLACING AN ONLINE ORDER
Quartz then tried to order the same weapon Ramos used to figure out how difficult it actually was.
The video on the site where you can buy it shows the features of the product and, as reported in the article, states that the shotgun weighs just over two kilos, is "extremely handy" and "a perfect addition to anyone's safe".
“To collect the weapon – we read on Quartz – it is necessary to prove age and have a clean criminal record, but these documents were not requested when we placed the order. Aside from that, it was a routine purchase. Except, of course, for the lethality of the product ".
The DDM4V7, bought by Ramos a few days after his 18th birthday, is a semi-automatic shotgun manufactured by Georgia-based Daniel Defense and is sold online for $ 1,870, excluding taxes.
Shipping, which can only take place with collection from a local authorized dealer, is free. There will then be checked for identification and a three-page background check form, which is verified against an FBI database accessible from the gun shop.
Sure, there's no home delivery but with five clicks, a document and a form, if you live in Texas, the weapon is yours.
WEAPONS IN TEENAGERS 'HANDS
But Texas isn't the only American place where it's easy to buy a gun. This, in fact, is possible in as many as 44 of the 50 states, including New York.
As recalled by The Trace website, which deals exclusively with news related to gun violence, "federal law allows the purchase of long guns, including shotguns and shotguns, from the age of 18 and only a handful of States [California, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Vermont and Washington State, ed ] have enacted laws that raise the minimum age to 21 years ”.
At the same time, however, children under the age of 21 are not allowed to purchase alcohol or cigarettes in the United States.
WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY
Research has shown that adolescents are responsible for a disproportionate share of gun violence in the country, writes The Trace , and some experts argue that adolescents "do not have the maturity to use firearms responsibly."
“Although an 18-year-old's brain is similar to that of a mature adult, key cognitive processes continue to develop until the age of 26. These include impulse control, which can affect an individual's ability to safely and appropriately use a gun, ”wrote in a 2019 article for The Trace Cassandra Crifasi, a researcher on gun violence at Johns Hopkins. .
According to a 2020 analysis of FBI homicide data carried out by Everytown for Gun Safety, the site continues, young people between the ages of 18 and 20 are responsible for 18% of homicides with firearms, despite accounting for only 4%. of the population.
Additionally, the Rand Corporation think tank has shown that raising the minimum age for the sale of all weapons to 21 could reduce juvenile suicides committed with a firearm.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/in-texas-per-comprare-arma-bastano-5-clic/ on Fri, 27 May 2022 08:59:33 +0000.