The shooting deaths by a lone gunman of 20 children, six elementary school teachers and the shooter's mother in Newtown, Connecticut, have shocked the world. Newtown was often seen as a safe place to raise children, but on December 14, 2012, that assumption was turned on its head.

As terrible as this incident is, it is not the worst school shooting to take place in the United States. A Korean student shot and killed 33 students (including himself) at the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, VA, in 2007, and high school seniors Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold murdered 12 classmates, one teacher and injured 24 others at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999.

A movie based on the Columbine school massacre was shown in Europe, and was seen by 800,000 views in France alone. US shooting deaths amount to 12,000 annually, more than 100 times higher than in Europe. These deaths play a major role in Europe's denunciation of America's culture of violence.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, a 19th century political philosopher, argued that Americans strive for "manhood." Actors such as John Wayne and Clint Eastwood, featuring fast fists and revolvers, are seen as prominent examples of the all-American man. Other examples of American's obsession with violence throughout history can be found in the James Gang, Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane, and modern TV programming is filled with violence.

Senseless acts of violence can also be found in American foreign policy. In 2005, US marines kicked down doors, broke into Iraqi homes and shot and killed 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians at point blank range, including women and children. The primary suspect, Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich, received no jail time by pleading guilty to dereliction of duty. The event later became known as the Haditha Massacre.

Two years later, private military contractor Black Water shot and killed 17 Iraqi civilians in Baghdad, Iraq. The organization later tried to claim that the murdered civilians were terrorists.

Mental illness is also a contributing factor to random violence in the US, and many convicted shooters have had mental problems.

Shooting deaths are the result of weak gun regulations. The Federal Bureau of Investigation in the US estimates that there are 200 million privately owned guns in the United States. By some estimates, 40 percent of guns sold to American citizens and legal residents occur without proper background checks, and nearly three quarters of the major mass murders since 1982 have been committed with legally owned weapons.

A US assault weapons ban expired in 2004, and current gun control laws vary by state. Connecticut has one of the nation's most strict gun control laws, but that did not prevent the tragedy in Newtown from occurring.

The National Rifle Association (NRA) lobby makes gun control politically difficult, and its 4.3 million members stand by their Second Amendment right to bear arms. Many consider the NRA to be one of the most powerful lobbyists in Washington.

Although many groups support stricter gun control in the United States, a large percentage of these groups are poorly organized. The most prominent gun control group, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, cannot stand toe-to-toe with the NRA. James Brady was former US President Reagan's Press Secretary, and was almost killed in a botched assassination attempt on Reagan in 1981. Brady has since devoted his life to gun control.

President Obama, speaking about the Newtown tragedy, promised to prevent it from happening again. But he did not specify how he would do it. The Newtown shooting will surely place a new emphasis on gun control in Obama's second term as president.

The author is a columnist with China.org.cn. For more information please visit: http://www.ccgp-fushun.com/opinion/zhaojinglun.htm

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