Eighteen children and three others died Tuesday afternoon in a shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. Despite everything, researcher Rafael Jacob, of the Raoul-Dandurand Chair in Strategic and Diplomatic Studies, does not believe that this tragedy will bring changes to the United States.
He recalled that in 2012, the Sandy Hook massacre in Connecticut killed 27 people, including 20 children, at an elementary school. This led to a debate in the U.S. Senate on four steps. Three of them tightened gun control, and one of them loosened gun control. All four steps failed, but the one that was soon to be passed was the one that would loosen gun control, and that was next to what was, according to most observers, the worst shot from a human point of view. history of the United Stateshe pointed out.
” I apologize for being so overwhelming and absolutist, but if a shootout like Sandy Hook has done very little to move the needle, I have a hard time seeing how this one will change things any more. “
Since the beginning of 2022, 200 mass shootings have taken place in the United States, he said. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not referring to shootings, but mass shootings where at least four people were injured. It’s been like that year after year for over 10 years, but certainly the last 10 years have marked the imagination since Sandy Hook in 2012 and now Uvalde in Texas. I’ll tell you that the sequel is shaping up to be as tragically predictable as it was then.his observation.
Things are unlikely to change
U.S. President Joe Biden is also tied when it comes to changes he can implement, Rafael Jacob believes.
President Biden can give a good speech tonight or tomorrow, and in the next three weeks, he can put all the political capital he has left into the steps he wants or he will propose to the American Congress. , ultimately, it is the legislators in Congress, and therefore the Senate and House, who decide at the federal level, and the Republican Party is large enough, at least in the Senate, to block any serious initiativehe explains.
If you are elected or a Republican candidate in the United States, especially in a state like Texas, to survive in the primaries where your party’s voters will choose you, you can’t risk being seen as a moderate supporter of control. of guns, as the base of the Republican Party has a visceral allergy to any measures aimed at tightening gun controlhe concludes.
On Tuesday night, President Joe Biden issued a call to “face the gun lobby”. He also slammed the Republican opposition.
Source: Radio-Canada
