T

he politics surrounding guns in the United States is a deeply contentious issue that has long held a prominent place in the nation’s public discourse. Rooted in historical, cultural, and constitutional factors, the debate over gun rights and regulations has become an enduring hallmark of American politics. The sheer ubiquity of firearms, coupled with deeply ingrained beliefs about individual rights, self-defense, and the role of government, has created a complex landscape where passionate arguments clash and ideological battle lines are drawn.

In Merchants of the Right Jennifer Carlson delves into the multifaceted world of gun sellers, uncovering how their trade extends beyond the mere exchange of firearms. The book sheds light on a remarkable surge in gun purchases, which occurred amidst a confluence of extraordinary events: a once-in-a-century pandemic, widespread racial unrest, and a presidential election that shook the very foundations of American democracy. Carlson’s exploration of this phenomenon reveals how conservative political culture experienced a newfound spur, providing readers with a unique vantage point into the front lines of the ongoing culture war surrounding gun rights and an understanding of how guns became politicized.

Through extensive interviews with gun sellers across the United States, Carlson paints a vivid picture of the struggles faced by these merchants in navigating the complex intersection of guns and politics. The book reveals a frame breaking trend: While it is commonly assumed that the majority of gun owners lean conservative, new gun buyers are more likely to identify as liberal. The significant dilemma that gun sellers faced in the lead-up to the 2020 presidential election was should they embrace these new liberal customers, potentially ushering in a new era of bipartisan engagement in the realm of guns, or should they solidify their position on gun politics as a conservative stronghold?

At least ten people were shot in the Brooklyn subway on Tuesday, April 13 in the morning rush hour, and a total of at least 20 people were injured in the chaos. The shooter opened fire after setting off a smoke grenade in the subway car while the train was still moving from 25th Street to 36th Street station.

Investigators believe that the shooter’s gun jammed preventing him from firing further. The case is currently not suspected to be an act of terrorism but a lone wolf attack; however, the possibility has not been ruled out. Initial worries of an explosion or a bomb were rebutted as the police stated there were no explosives found.

Videos and photos showed people rushing out of a train to 36th Street subway station platform in panic, the platform covered in smoke with bloody passengers lying on the ground.

Shooter still at large

The suspect, who fled, was identified as dressed similarly to a Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) worker, wearing a hooded sweatshirt with an orange construction vest and a gas mask. The U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI are among federal organizations that are working with the New York Police Department (NYPD) to apprehend the shooter.

It was reported that the cameras at three subway stations investigated had malfunctioned but had not been tampered with. Investigators recovered the nine mm gun the shooter used to carry out the attack, detonated and undetonated smoke grenades, extended magazines, a hatchet, a garbage bag, gasoline, a rolling cart, and the key to a van parked near the subway station where the suspect is thought to have entered.

Gun violence and policing have been an ongoing area of debate in New York City. Gun violence in the city shows an increase compared to 2019, with people emerging out of lockdown. Major crimes in New York have experienced an uptick of nearly 60% compared to last year.

The indiscriminate nature of Tuesday’s attack makes it stand out. A similar attack was prevented in 2017 when an attacker partially detonated a pipe bomb at a Port Authority transit hub adjoining a subway station to a bus terminal at rush hour.

President Joe Biden remarked on the attack briefly while speaking about energy prices at a bioprocessing plant in Iowa. He said that the first lady and he were praying for the victims of the attack, thanked the civilians who performed first aid before responders arrived to the shooting scene, and stated that he had been in touch with Mayor Adams and the NYPD.

Mayor Adams condemned the attack in an interview with CNN and called it a “senseless act of violence” while praising transit workers for their conduct during the attack. New York politicians and lawmakers also stated that they were closely monitoring the situation.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul addressed the shooting in a press conference saying, “No more mass shootings.” She emphasized that “it has to end now” and stressed that this was true for other forms of violence as well. She pledged to commit the resources of the city to fight the surge of crime.

Gun control debate once again sparked in the U.S.

Adams called for a “national response” for gun control in a CNN interview. Other Democrat politicians touched upon the need for gun control, Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez among them. Velázquez wrote that she was monitoring the situation, underlined the diverse immigrant community of Sunset Park where the attack took place, and voiced the need to push for stricter gun control laws in a Twitter thread.

Congressman Jamaal Bowman shared an interview about guns and underlying mental health challenges that lead to gun violence. On Monday, a day before the subway shooting, Biden had announced a new gun control measure on “ghost guns,” while the president is increasingly under pressure to address the country’s gun violence crisis.

In light of the New York City subway shooting, Canada’s Toronto mayor John Tory announced police and transit staff would be increasing patrols in their transit system, which has been experiencing cases of assault and crime recently.

The gun crisis in Puerto Rico is inherently different than that taking place in the United States. People in Puerto Rico and the United States behave the same way when it comes to using guns to carry out violent acts. Yet, going deep into the matter, Puerto Rico has a higher rate than the U.S. mainland when it comes to deaths and incidents caused by firearms. The United States’ biggest problem with guns is mass shootings and the “heritage” attached to owning a gun since it’s a constitutional right – a right that was given to U.S citizens at a time where guns were not automatic.

In Puerto Rico, people don’t experience events like mass shootings at schools or white supremacists entering a building and gunning down people. Here we see day-to-day gun violence and illegal guns coming to the island in many different ways. Richard Hofstadter pointed to the uniqueness of the gun crisis within the United States “as the only modern industrial urban nation that persists in maintaining a gun culture.”

American gun culture is deeply rooted in the nationwide reality of the country, the lawful possession of guns by a large percentage of the population, and viewing guns as material objects. The vast majority of U.S. citizens are allowed to buy and keep firearms without restriction.

Lobby groups in the U.S. have campaigned for owning arms, a right granted under the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which states, “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

Federal law sets the minimum standards for firearms regulation in the United States, which is why the people of Puerto Rico demand the US federal government to adopt stricter measures when it comes to gun ownership and possession. Individual states have their own laws, such as the kinds of weapons that are allowed to be owned or carried in public.

The U.S. has less than 5% of the world’s population, but up to half of the world’s civilian-owned guns. It also has the highest homicide-by-firearm rate among the world’s most developed nations.

Nevertheless, in Puerto Rico, on December 11, Puerto Rico’s Governor Wanda Vàzquez Garced of the New Progressive Party signed the Puerto Rico Weapons Act of 2020. The legislation overhauled the island’s gun laws in a manner that will make it easier for the island’s residents and visitors to exercise their “constitutional right” to keep and bear arms. We all know that this is not the whole truth/that is only part of the truth.

For the government, it’s more about benefitting from the gun crisis on the island. The legislation’s provisions pertain to firearms licensing procedures. Prior to the enactment of the Weapons Act, Puerto Ricans could apply for a possession license, or a carry license that was much harder to obtain.

The Weapons Act combines the two licenses into a single license, making it easier for citizens to own firearms. This single license of owning arms is a shall-issue, meaning it requires a license to carry a concealed handgun. Previously, Puerto Ricans were required to petition a court for the approval of a carry permit. The legislation also puts in place a flat $200 initial licensing fee, and a $100 renewal fee.

Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States, has faced a wave of armed crimes for several decades.

Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States, has faced a wave of armed crimes for several decades. According to the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics, the population in Puerto Rico reached 3.2 million inhabitants in 2019. Between 2018 and 2019, the population of Puerto Rico grew by about 340,000 inhabitants, putting an end to the continuous decrease of population of the previous 15 years.

When analyzing the statistics of violent deaths, including those carried out by firearms in various jurisdictions throughout the world, we find that Puerto Rico had a rate of 22 homicides for every 100,000 inhabitants three years ago. This represents almost a third of the rate of El Salvador (62 for each 100,000) which may look favorable, but is very high compared to countries like Costa Rica (12 for every 100,000), the Dominican Republic (11 for each 100,000), and the United States (5 for each 100,000).

In Puerto Rico, firearms are used in 90% of murders, a percentage that is double the world’s average for the use of weapons in homicides (41.2%). Interestingly, only 12% of the population in Puerto Rico are in illegal possession of firearms, while the number of guns that are owned under license are 422,000.

According to data from the Puerto Rico Police Bureau, the average number of murders in Puerto Rico between 2010 and 2018 was 811. A Vice News report stated that in 2011, Puerto Rico’s homicide rate increased by more than 1,100 murders in one year. In 2012, Puerto Rico topped the world in deaths caused by firearms beating countries like Sierra Leone, Guatemala, and even Honduras.

A study at the University of California Davis Health showed that there were 39,740 deaths caused by firearms in the U.S. in 2018, and that 61% of these were due to suicides. In 2018, 24,432 people in the U.S. died by firearm suicides. Firearms are used in approximately half of all suicides nationwide. In 2018, 13,958 people in the U.S. died by firearm homicide, accounting for 35.1% of the total deaths caused by firearms.

Firearms were used in approximately 74% of homicides in 2018. The other 3.6% of firearm deaths are unintentional, undetermined, due to law enforcement intervention, or due to public mass shootings (0.2% of the total firearm deaths). There are approximately 115,000 non-fatal firearm injuries in the U.S. each year. Thirty-one percent of households in the U.S. have firearms, and 22% of American adults personally own one or more firearms.