Twenty-seven school shootings have taken place since the start of the year in the United States. Ten days after Buffalo, the news cycle turns to Texas with the familiar ritual of shock, grief and outrage before counter-arguments about mental health and the responsibility of parents.
Other nations have strong gun cultures, but only in America do so many die, a country where people can legally buy the same military-grade weapons that are currently used in battle in Ukraine. Does a nearly $20 billion industry matter more than the basic safety of school kids?
Is it a sign of an America in decline? Or the price to pay for a nation whose success is forged by a cult of personal freedom, of first and second amendments of the constitution, that in the digital age sometimes seem to put free speech and the right to bear arms above all else, no matter the consequences?
Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Juilette Laurain and Louise Guibert.
