Crosses adorn a makeshift memorial for the victims of the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on May 31, 2022. The town began on Tuesday laying to rest the 19 children killed in the shooting. Photo: AFP

After frequent gun shooting cases nationwide in the US that caused heavy casualties, including children, the White House and Capitol Hill are trying to show that they are trying to find a solution under pressure from society, as US President Joe Biden said  Congress "must act to pass gun control legislation." 

Biden vowed that he will continue to push relevant reforms, but he also said "I can't dictate this stuff" as it's ultimately up to the House and the Senate.

However, ironically, Biden and Congress with endless partisan struggles can reach an agreement and easily pass weapon supplies worth billions to Ukraine to earn money from the wars in regions far from the US, said analysts, noting that although  Democrats and Republicans have differences on domestic issues like gun control, they  all serve the military industrial complex, and benefit in different ways.

After the Buffalo shooting that was motivated by white supremacy in May, Biden called it "domestic terrorism, straightforward terrorism." Outside the country, US arms sales and military operations have directly or indirectly encouraged and helped the growth of terrorists, separatists and extremists in regions like the Middle East, Central Asia and North Africa. Analysts said the US government who fails to protect its own people from gun shootings and spreads chaos worldwide is the "biggest producer of the terrorism," whether within or outside the US. They encourage victims around the globe to sue the US government in relevant international legal institutions.  

Failed gun control legislation caused endless shootings that have killed many people in America for decades and we have seen slogans like "enough is enough" since the 1990s. But so what? This problem is still there and no one can see the hope of solving the problem fundamentally," said Lü Xiang, an expert on US studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

This is a systemic problem, and Biden is right, the president is unable to solve the problem and the two-party political structure of Congress just makes all gun control efforts about "fixing the surface" and a gun ban is impossible for the country with such a special culture and an "out-of-date" Constitution, analysts said.

The US really cares about the issue and would like to consider some measures to control the problem, and politicians from the two parties can use the case to gain political interests. But on the issue of weapons exports to other countries that would kill non-Americans, US politicians never care, and they even try to maximize their profits, Lü told the Global Times.

According to the Sludge, an independent, nonprofit news outlet that produces investigative journalism on lobbying and money in politics, data in 2020 shows that many legislators from both parties own huge amounts of stock in Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, and other top defense contractors, and they are the ones who profit from wars.

US gun violence intensifies in 2022. Graphic: GT

In May, Biden announced $800 million in new arms supplies to Ukraine. The House emphatically approved a fresh $40 billion Ukraine aid package on May 10 as lawmakers beefed up Biden's initial request, signaling a magnified, bipartisan commitment to thwart "the Russian invasion to Ukraine."

Europol head Catherine De Bolle has warned that weapons currently being delivered to Ukraine could eventually end up in the hands of criminals operating on the continent, according to Russia Today.

In her interview with Germany's Welt am Sonntag newspaper published on Saturday, De Bolle said that one of the things which were of concern to her organization was the "whereabouts of the weapons that are currently being delivered to Ukraine." She explained that when the conflict ends, Europol wants to "prevent a situation akin to that of 30 years ago in the Balkan war."

"The weapons from that war are still being used by criminal groups today," she said.

Compared to the gun business in the US, the arms sales around the globe is the real major profit center of the military industrial complex, and using defense cooperation with its allies to impose influence over more countries and to instigate wars and tensions in many regions to boost the international weapons market, US arms sales or weapons transfers could also help terrorists and criminals worldwide, said analysts. 

On US human rights abuses like the gun issue and the racial problem, as well as the disasters it has brought to other countries like wars and chaos, some analysts said the UN and relevant international organizations should launch an investigation and hold the US accountable. 

In response to a question on whether the Office of the High Commissioner will investigate the US' human rights violations, including racial problems and the gun control issue, UN Human Rights Chief Michelle Bachelet said that they have presented a report at the Human Rights Council on racial discrimination and problems of law enforcement in many countries, including the US and Europe.

Bachelet said that in order to stop racial discrimination, countries need to look at the history of slavery and dismantle all systematic discrimination, if they really want to ensure the rights of minorities.

Lü said in the US there are many issues about human rights abuses which should be investigated by the UN. But on matters like the gun issue, the US could always use "freedom" as an "umbrella" to respond to concerns and demands for an investigation.

The US is a superpower and this prevents international organizations from enforcing the law on it even if it has violated international laws many times, and it is also a hegemony able to manipulate public opinion, so it can ignore criticism and  groundlessly accuse others with disinformation, Lü noted.

Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

There are many victims of US hegemony around the globe such as the people in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Libya, and Serbia, and the governments or civic groups or individuals of these countries have the right to sue the US for war crimes with support from the international community in institutions like the International Court of Justice. But due to US power and influence among the West and most international organizations, the lawsuits would be difficult and even if they won, no one can  impose the decisions on the US, said analysts.

However, these legal efforts should be supported by the international community so that they could put pressure on Washington and at least restrain US hegemonic acts in the future, experts noted.