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Shooting in the United States: “The decisions of the Supreme Court are very far from what the majority of Americans want [sur les armes à feu]”, explains Jérôme Viala-Godefroy, specialist in the United States
A gigantic manhunt is taking place in the northeastern United States. The American authorities are still tracking down the perpetrator of the massacre which left 18 dead and 13 injured in the state of Maine on Wednesday evening, October 25. Jérôme Viala Godefroy, lecturer at Sciences Po and specialist in the United States, explains on the 19/20 info set the issues at stake in the debate on carrying weapons in the country. – (franceinfo)
A gigantic manhunt is taking place in the northeastern United States. The American authorities are still tracking down the perpetrator of the massacre which left 18 dead and 13 injured in the state of Maine on Wednesday evening, October 25. Jérôme Viala Godefroy, lecturer at Sciences Po and specialist in the United States, explains on the 19/20 info set the issues at stake in the debate on carrying weapons in the country.
Despite the shootings that are shaking the United States, the country has still not been able to reform the carrying of weapons permitted by the Constitution. “It takes 60% of Congress to change the Constitution, it will not happen. There is opposition in public opinion between Republicans and Democrats. Roughly 60% of Americans think gun violence is a national problem, including 80% of Democrats and 38% of Republicans.“, explains Jérôme Viala Godefroy, lecturer at Sciences Po and specialist in the United States. A crack which can be explained by the lobbying work of the NRA, among others, but also by a decree from the Supreme Court in 2010 : “[le port d’arme] is no longer a collective right, it is an individual right. (…) Since then, we have seen that it has only increased in terms of shootings“, indicates the expert.
Supreme Court regulation called into question
To this text is added another decision of the Supreme Court, which applies this law to the States. “Even some restrictive laws in some states are being questioned by judges“, explains Jérôme Viala Godefroy. The law passed in 2022 to put in place regulations around firearms [et notamment le fait de vérifier les antécédents judiciaires et psychologiques des acheteurs] could not pass into Maine, “both democratic and very open about weapons“.
In 2024, the Supreme Court, whose conservative posture was strengthened under the Trump administration, will once again have to consider the subject: “Should we limit firearms for people who have committed violence in their homes? (…) The decisions of the Supreme Court are very far from what the majority of Americans want“, specifies Jérôme Godefroy Viala. Decisions which have consequences on hospitals deprived of injuries caused by shootings: “Weapons like the AR 15 cause enormous wounds (…). There’s a lot of blood and in Maine, a small state that’s not used to having this kind of killing, it poses a lot of problems.”