Easy access to guns makes mass shootings a regular phenomenon in the US. The killing of 26 people in a Texan Church is the latest such case. Some say that the tragedy is due to a domestic situation. President Donald Trump attributes it to a mental health problem. There is no doubt that a mass shooter is a psychopath. But mental illness prevails in all countries. That does not account for mass shootings as happens in the US. The Second Amendment to the American Constitution gives citizens the right to carry guns and to arm themselves though they are not licensed to kill like James Bond. American politicians are mostly reluctant to question the Second Amendment and fall foul of the formidable gun lobby. Maybe, certain racial codes apply to categorizing shooters as madmen, gangsters or terrorists. There is a school of thought which advocates doing nothing. Another school of thought calls for extreme vetting of immigrants. It has however been seen that immigrants are responsible for few incidents of mass gun shooting. American cinema somehow glorifies the cult of the gun since the days of James Cagney.
What about the situation in India? While there can be no parallels here as far as mass shooting is concerned, we have had trigger happy men from the noveau-riche class and mainly sons of politicians brandishing their guns to demonstrate power and patronage. The brazen murder of Jessica Lall, a young model by the son of a politician because she refused to serve him drinks at a pub as it was well past the hour, still rankles. Many journalists have been shot for following stories that are inconvenient to politicians and the mafia. The murder of Gauri Lankesh, a journalist, just a few weeks ago is another case in point. Indians too are not far behind as far as gun use is concerned. With the rule of law functioning in the breach and justice going out of the grasp of the common citizen, those who own guns seem to have the best of both worlds.
