The actions of the main manufacturers of weapons in the United States rise this Wednesday after the shooting the day before in a Texas school -with 19 children and two adults murdered- as investors anticipate an increase in demand due to the fear that pass laws restricting gun sales.
At 10:27 local time (14:27 GMT), Smith shares
This rise is common in the country after a shooting with many dead, as investors expect an increase in the purchase of weapons in the face of possible restrictions to come.
The president of the United States, Joe Biden, visibly shaken yesterday when he heard the news, said: "As a nation we have to ask ourselves when in God's name are we going to confront the pro-gun lobbyists (and) do what Deep down we know what to do."
The debate on gun control is recurrent every time there is a massacre, but it comes up against the sacrosanct right to "carry firearms outside the home in self-defense" included in the Second Amendment of the Constitution.
And every time there is an indiscriminate shooting, not only the laxity of the laws that allow even teenagers to buy guns is debated, but also the responsibility of the arms industry itself for the death of innocent civilians.
Last February, the families of nine victims of the 2012 shooting at the Sandy Hook school in Newton, Connecticut, where 26 people died - the most serious mass shooting in a school - reached a historic agreement to receive 73 million dollars of compensation from Remington Arms Company, which had manufactured the AR-15-style rifle used in the massacre.
It was one of the most significant deals to date, as federal immunity for gunmakers provides a strong shield against litigation, according to the New York Times.
The National Rifle Association (NRA), an organization that wields great influence over politicians and thus gun laws, said nearly five million people became members after the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting. .
However, various analysts pointed out that the organization inflated its data and lowered that figure to three million new members.
In the United States, you can own a gun and not be a member of the NRA. According to 2021 data, less than 20% of civilians who own guns in this country are members.
Gun sales surged across the country during the pandemic as some feared the outbreak could spark civil unrest.
On Tuesday, Democratic Senator from Connecticut and a gun control advocate, Chris Murphy, said he would "get on his knees" to beg his colleagues to pass gun control legislation.
Also Senate Majority Leader Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer from New York introduced a motion to put two gun control bills on the House calendar.
But they were countered by Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, who criticized Democratic efforts to change gun laws in the immediate aftermath of the shooting.
The Lower House approved last Wednesday a bill to increase the fight against domestic terrorism just days after another massacre, this time a racist shooting in the New York town of Buffalo in which ten people died, most of them black.
The initiative, dubbed "The Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act of 2022," proposes the creation of specialized units in the FBI and the Justice and Homeland Security departments to track and investigate potential domestic terrorism threats, including racist and related groups. with white supremacy.
After its approval in the Lower House, with a Democratic majority, the bill has now passed to the Senate.
