Rising mass shootings in the U.S, despite its relative safety, are prompting countries around the world, which have taken note of this development to alert would-be travellers to the U.S on the dangers of gun violence.
At least seven nations have issued advisories to their citizens who intend on traveling to the U.S., citing serious safety concerns in recent years. New Zealand, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, France, Venezuela and Uruguay have each urged precaution for travelers when visiting the U.S., due in large part to gun violence.
Incessant shootings in the U.S resulting in deaths of a huge number of people have become a real cause for concern to the United States authorities and the citizens and persons residing in the country including those wishing to visit.
Gun violence has become a daily tragedy affecting the lives of individuals, not only in the U.S, but around the world. More than 500 people reportedly die every day from gun violence, with over 200 mass shootings this year alone in the U.S.
According to the 2018 study of 195 countries and territories by research Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington described the Pew Research Center findings that the gun death rate in the U.S. in 2021 was 14.6 per 100,000 people, as alarmingly higher than in the majority of developed nations.
In the first weekend of May, eight people were shot and killed at a busy Dallas-area mall after a 33-year-old gunman opened fire, wounding at least seven others before he was fatally shot by police. The previous weekend in Oklahoma, a convicted sex offender shot and killed his wife, her three children and two of their friends before he killed himself, according to police. And just two days prior to that, a man shot and killed five neighbors, including a 9-year-old boy, after the family asked him to stop firing rounds in the air as a baby tried to sleep. The suspected shooter was arrested after a manhunt that lasted several days.
Despite these figures, the U.S is still considered one of the safer countries in the world. Reports say that it may have more guns, but with much less crime compared to other countries.
By comparison, gun death rates in countries like Canada (2.1 per 100,000) and Australia (1.0), as well as European nations such as France (2.7) and Spain (0.6), were far lower.
Latin American countries like El-Salvador, Venezuela, Guatamala and Colombia with a ratio of 39.2 per 100,00 38.7, 32.3 and 29.5 respectively of long-lasting civic unrest remains much higher in violence than in the U.S.
Given the status of the United States in the world, many are concerned about the spate of gun related violence in the States, describing it as a gun disease requiring immediate action by the U.S government to stem the tide.
With reports from Yahoo News