Washington-SANA
As the debate over the right to possess individual weapons under the protection of the Constitution continues in the United States, concerns are growing that more US states will allow individuals to carry loaded firearms anywhere without a permit.
Florida is moving in this direction, as NBC News indicated that the southeastern US state could soon become the 26th state that allows individuals to carry loaded firearms without a permit, in a development that has raised growing concern among opponents of carrying laws. Individual gun and gun safety groups.
The leaders of the Republican Party in the Florida Legislative Council confirmed their intention to present and strengthen this legislation when they hold the next legislative session on the 7th of next March, preceded by the states of Arizona, Iowa, Montana, Tennessee, Texas and Utah, which in 2021 enacted laws allowing the carrying of weapons without a permit, and last year the states followed suit. Alabama, Georgia, Indiana and Ohio followed suit.
According to the "NBC News" report, other states that have introduced legislation to carry weapons without a permit in the past two years include Virginia, Louisiana, South Carolina and Nebraska.
This escalating promotion of legal or unlicensed gun ownership comes at a time when the United States is suffering from an epidemic of gun violence and the insistence of some, especially supporters of the Republican Party, that carrying a gun is a right guaranteed by the US Constitution, in complete disregard of the criticism and the frequent shootings on a daily basis. within schools and universities and in various American communities.
With the beginning of the new year, it became easier for Alabama residents to carry and possess weapons legally, after the state passed a law last year allowing individuals to carry concealed weapons without an official permit, and it entered into force on the first of this month in a milestone for gun rights, as it is now half The 50 states allow people to carry weapons without a permit.
Despite the catastrophic incidents that occurred due to weapons, most notably the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and others, the voices calling for the right to bear arms increased in a clear indication of the spread of a dangerous culture of violence in American society. .
According to data from the Gun Violence Archives, a nonprofit organization that tracks shootings in the United States, more than 600 mass shootings occurred in the country in 2022, making it the second-highest annual total of mass shootings on record.
In addition, the American newspaper The New York Times indicated that more than a hundred television advertisements for Republican candidates show their use of guns as discussion points or “visual decorations” last year in an attempt to promote the issue of individual arms, which is a major point of contention with Democrats.
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey highlighted her support for the law to carry guns without a license, during her re-election campaign, which included an advertisement that showed her pulling a gun from her bag in her office at the Alabama Capitol Building.
Gun violence became the leading cause of death among children and teens in the United States in 2020, according to researchers who analyzed data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and gun deaths rose 33 percent from 2011 to 2020.
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