US accused of failing to protect citizens

American gun violence is “a human rights crisis” and the US government's refusal to pass gun control laws represents a violation of its citizens' right to life, according to a new report by Amnesty International. In its report, Amnesty argues that “the USA is failing to protect individuals and communities most at risk of gun violence, in violation of international human rights law” and goes on to say that “the right to live free from violence, discrimination and fear has been superseded by a sense of entitlement to own a practically unlimited array of deadly weapons.”

While it gives some attention to public mass shootings, the Amnesty report focuses more on everyday forms of gun violence, particularly urban violence, domestic violence, and the impact of gun violence on children. Mass shootings “account for less than 1% of gun deaths in the USA,” the report notes.

To address the crisis of gun homicide, suicide and injury that leaves about 38,000 Americans dead and 116,000 wounded each year, Amnesty recommends the US pass a sweeping set of gun control measures, including universal background checks, the requirement of a valid license to buy a gun, no gun purchases for those under 21, a ban on certain military-style weapons and ammunition, and the creation of a digitised national gun registry. Furthermore, according to Amnesty, congress should also pass a federal law prohibiting carrying guns in public “unless there is a credible justification for doing so”.

Amnesty also recommended that “the USA should guarantee the right to health and access to healthcare services for gunshot survivors and insure that healthcare costs do not cause “catastrophic financial burdens” to survivors or their families”.

COMPILED BY LAW DESK (SOURCE: GUARDIAN.COM).