United States of Gun Culture: The Rise in Hate Crimes
In 2016, the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida was attacked by extremism using an AR-15. This attack led to the deaths of 49 people, and 53 were wounded. The Pulse nightclub shooting would lead to gun laws to help ensure that people with mental illnesses and those with criminal backgrounds were not allowed to own or get firearms.
According to Brady and the FBI, statistics show transgender people are 53 percent higher in being shot in the United States than anywhere else in the world. In 2020 alone, there were more transgender people killed by firearms than in all the previous years combined. On average, there are 10,300 hate crimee-related incidents around the country. As of September 2021, there have been 493 mass shootings, 20 mass murders, and 34,000-gun deaths. That included suicide murders, homicides, and multiple other gun-related incidents. From 2020 to 2021, there were 20-million gun sales around the country.
According to UCLA Williams Institute, 19 percent of the LBGTQ community in the United States owns a firearm at home. Compared to heterosexuals who owned 35 percent of guns at home, which has resulted in 18 percent of the hate crimes around the United States. Ninety-two percent of LBGTQ folks support background checks nationally, and 72 percent of LGBTQ people are against concealed carry weapons.
According to everytown, you are 25 times more likely to die from a weapon-related shooting than then you are anywhere else in the world. Members of the LBGTQ community are more likely to die by a firearm than anywhere else in the world. There has been an increase since 2019 of 43 percent in anti-LGBTQ hate groups around the United States. This increase is not uncommon due to the political climate from 2016 to 2020, which resulted in a lot of misinformation, disinformation, and an epic in far-right extremism. White supremacy targeting. People of color and especially trans women of color. Seventy-nine percent of trans homicides were related to gun violence, according to the Fenway Institute.
It costs on average $280 billion (about $860 per person in the United States) a year regarding gun-related incidents around the country. That funding could be put back into the communities to help with BIPOC, LGBTQ, and reproductive healthcare programs. The death rate and the suicide rate among LGBTQ weapon-related deaths are slowly starting to rise.
According to Moms Demands Action, There are 1.2 million weapon sales that go without a background check every single year. Eighty-four percent of firearm sales every year are in states that do not require a background check on every weapon sale. An individual will typically not pass a background check in these states. New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and California complete extensive background checks. This has helped ensure that firearm-related deaths have gone down.
Unmasking the Mass Shootings
According to Mother Jones News, since 2012, the number of mass shootings has tripled in the last several years per data sheets here: Mother Jones Mass Shooting Data. Also, the FBI compiled the data for 2019 mass shootings here: FBI Mass Shootings 2019.
These mass shootings and hate crimes have risen sharply since 2012. USA Today completed a timeline of the number of mass shootings here: USA Today Mass Shootings. The rise in militias and hate crimes have led to many conflicts seen during the 2020 election period. This included targeted crimes against BIPOC, LGBTQ, refugees, and immigrants.
This rise was documented by Poynter, which can be found here. The increase in mass shootings, hate crimes, domestic terrorism, and politically motivated militias will continue to rise until legislation is passed to ensure better gun safety, gun control, and overall better systems in place to protect people.
