Ten people were killed and 10 others injured Friday morning when a 17-year-old gunman opened fire at Santa Fe High School, Texas. Another horrifying scene that has become all too familiar left US communities in great sadness again. 

Shooting rampages have not only sounded the alarm for security on campus, but also shaken the foundation of US social stability. According to CNN, this was the 22nd school shooting in 2018.

The strength of the US as the world's superpower is, first of all, embodied in its stability, which is closely related to campus security. Normally there are one or two good schools in the best US communities and security is the paramount yardstick used to measure schools. With the rising frequency of shootings, the foundation of US communal security is in jeopardy. 

Americans attach great importance to education. It's one of the significant reasons why the US has risen to be a powerful nation. An increasing number of Chinese parents sent their children to the US to study due to the country's top-notch education. However, with more shooting incidents, the US educational quality has been crippled. And with the death tolls from mass shootings creeping higher and higher in recent years, some international students will be deterred from studying in the US.

Moreover, the increase in school shootings indicates a change in US community culture. Community is the cell of US society and the embodiment of US spirit. Gun control can reduce danger, but cannot fix the psychological and social problems brought about by the change in community culture.  

In recent years, US decline has been a hot topic. It's worth noting that the decline of the US strength starts from inside the country, in the cell of a society.

The failure of the US to curb gun violence in essence is a sign of US decline. Frequent shooting incidents have crippled the US reputation as a major power supposed to protect its people. Confidence has been undermined in US security and the government's governance, eroding US soft power.

The Soft Power 30 report, released last year by the British-based public relations company Portland Communications and the University of Southern California, listed the US, once a world leader in soft power, behind France and Britain in third place.

If Washington cannot fix its gun problems, it will continue to see sliding soft power with a souring global perception of the US as an insecure nation.