第三，利益集团是美国控枪的最大阻力。美国控枪难有成效，除了美国社会根深蒂固的持枪文化这个因素以外，还有利益集团因素。如果说法律因素是“表”的话，利益集团因素则是美国控枪难问题的“里”，是主要原因。美国的枪支制造、买卖和使用已形成庞大产业链，涉及庞大利益。根据美国全国广播公司2015年报道，美国的枪支和弹药制造业年收益达135亿美元，枪支和弹药商店平均年收益31亿美元，实际盈利达到4亿7840万美元，枪支制造和销售行业缴税总额达到20亿美元，雇佣26.3万全职员工，仅正式登记的武器销售点就有10万个之多。美国枪支和弹药行业的总体经济影响估计达429亿美元。反对枪支管控的协会组织是枪支行业和持枪者利益的代表，在控枪议题上拥有强大影响力。在美国，反对控枪的利益集团有全国步枪协会、全国持枪者协会、全国射击运动协会、全国枪支权利协会等12个组织。这些利益集团为美国总统选举和国会选举提供大量政治捐款，仅2010年至2018年期间就通过政治行动委员会捐款1.13亿美元。全国步枪协会是美国主要的反控枪组织，创立于1871年，有500万会员，其中包括实力强大的枪支生产商和经销商。该组织的宗旨就是反对枪支管制，具体的活动方式包括开展拥枪宣传、组织反控枪行动、进行院外游说和政治捐助等。全国步枪协会是美国最有影响力的院外游说组织，每年运营经费高达2.5亿美元，竞选年份经费更多。根据有关统计数据，全国步枪协会在2016年总统选举中捐出政治竞选资金5440万美元，其中3000万美元捐给了共和党候选人。根据美国有线电视新闻网统计，目前美国国会两院的535名成员中，有307人要么直接从协会及其附属机构处获得过竞选资金，要么就是从协会的广告活动中受益。全国步枪协会向国会议员捐出政治献金，数额较大的20笔都流向共和党籍议员。近年来，以全国步枪协会为代表的美国反枪支管制利益集团取得了巨大成功，几乎封杀了所有控枪法案，使美国枪支管制更加宽松。
文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/7493.html
3. Interest groups are the biggest resistance to gun control efforts in the United States. In addition to the deep-rooted gun culture in US society, interest groups are another important factor causing difficulties in achieving proper gun control in the United States. The legal factor is just a reason on the surface, the real reason is the influence of interest groups. The production, sales, and use of guns in the United States have formed a huge industrial chain that generates tremendous interests. According to a National Broadcasting Company (NBC) report in 2015, the gun and ammunition manufacturing industry in the United States earned a collective annual revenue of approximately $13.5 billion; guns and ammunition stores had an average annual income of $3.1 billion, and their actual profits reached $478.4 million. Gun production and sales industries paid $2 billion in taxes, and provided 263,000 full-time jobs, with 100,000 retailers officially registered to sell weapons. The total economic impact of the US gun and ammunition industry is estimated to be valued at $42.9 billion. The associations that oppose gun control and represent the interests of the gun industry and the people who carry guns wield great influence on the issue of gun control. In the United States, the interest groups that oppose gun control include 12 national organizations, such as the National Rifle Association of America (NRA), Gun Owners of America (GOA), National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), and the National Association for Gun Rights, etc. These interest groups have made substantial political donations to US presidential elections and congressional elections. They donated $113 million through the Political Action Committee (PAC) from 2010 to 2018 alone. Founded in 1871, the National Rifle Association of America, the leading organization that opposes gun control in the United States, has 5 million members, including powerful gun manufacturers and distributors. To fulfill its mission to oppose gun control, the association conducts specific activities to advocate gun ownership, oppose gun control, lobby, and make political donations. The NRA is the most influential lobbying organization in the United States, with annual operating expenses of $250 million and more expenses during election years. According to relevant statistics, the NRA donated $54.4 million for political campaign funds during the 2016 presidential election, among which $30 million was donated to Republican candidates. According to CNN, at present, 307 of the 535 Senators and Representatives of Congress have either obtained campaign funds directly from the association and its affiliates, or have benefited from the association’s advertising campaigns. The NRA has made numerous political donations to congressmen, among which 20 large donations were given to Republican congressmen. In recent years, the US interest groups that oppose gun control, represented by the NRA, have achieved great success. They have succeeded in killing off almost all gun control bills and further relaxing gun control in the United States.文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/7493.html
文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/7493.html
第四，枪支泛滥同美国警察过度使用枪支现象有相当关系。美国警方在执法过程中滥用枪支现象非常严重。警察常常暴力执法，在执法过程中往往以被执法对象疑似持有枪支等武器为由过度使用枪械，造成大量人员伤亡。2017年，美国警察枪杀987人。在被警察枪杀的人中，有很多是无辜者。《华盛顿邮报》报道，截至2016年7月8日，在半年多一点时间内被美国警方枪杀的509人中，至少有124人是精神疾病患者。警察滥用职权枪杀平民却极少被追究刑事责任，每年有约1000名平民被警察射杀，至少致死400人，但在2005年至2016年的10多年里，只有77名警察因此而被指控犯有过失杀人罪或谋杀罪，平均每年仅为7.7人，并且绝大多数都被免予起诉。2015年前5个月，美国警察枪击致死人数达385人，平均每天致死超过2人。而与此形成强烈反差的是，这期间被起诉的警察只有3人，还不到总数的1%。这种情况引起很大社会反响。2015年，射杀17岁非洲裔男孩麦克唐纳的芝加哥警察，迟迟未被起诉，公众为此举行抗议游行。该警察之前曾遭20项投诉，居然未受到任何追究。文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/7493.html
文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/7493.html
4. The proliferation of guns is closely related to the excessive use of guns by the US police. The US police often use guns excessively and resort to violence in performing their duty. Their excessive use of guns has caused a large number of casualties when dealing with targets suspected of carrying weapons. In 2017, the US police shot and killed 987 people, many of whom were innocent. The Washington Post reported in 2016 that as of July 8, at least 124 of the 509 people shot by US police in half a year were mentally ill. The policemen abuse their authority to shoot civilians but are rarely investigated for criminal responsibility. Every year, about 1,000 civilians are shot by the police and at least 400 of them die. In contrast, from 2005 to 2016, only 77 policemen were accused of manslaughter or murder, averaging only 7.7 people per year, and the vast majority of them were exempt from prosecution. In the first five months of 2015, the number of deaths caused by US policemen by using guns reached 385, an average of more than two people per day. In sharp contrast, only three policemen were accused during this period, less than 1 percent of the total. This situation has caused great social repercussions. In 2015, the Chicago police officer who fatally shot the 17-year-old African-American boy McDonald was not prosecuted for a long time, which resulted in a protest by the public. This police officer had suffered 20 complaints before, but he had never been investigated.文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/7493.html
文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/7493.html
由于上述根本性的制度原因，美国枪支问题看不到解决的前景。美国深陷枪支泥淖，在枪支管制方面进退两难，充分反映了其所谓的自由民主制度遭遇困境。美国政治制度不能解决个人自由与公共安全的矛盾，无法维持两者之间的平衡。当天平向个人持枪自由过度倾斜、造成大量人员伤亡、威胁公共安全时，美国政府无力纠正，任由事态持续恶化。“美式民主”找不到解决枪支问题的出路，因为美国民主的根基是竞选，而竞选离不开金钱。枪支利益集团通过金钱捐赠获得政治影响力，阻止政府控枪。同时，候选人为了争取拥护持枪权的选民的选票，常常迎合他们。另外，美国党派政治已经渗透到号称独立的国家司法机构——联邦最高法院，使联邦最高法院面对枪支管制问题时陷于分裂。枪支管制问题折射出美国政治制度的根本困境，宣告美国自由民主走进死胡同。文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/7493.html
文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/7493.html
Due to the above-mentioned fundamental institutional reasons, the gun issue in the United States has no hope to be settled, and the US government is in a dilemma regarding gun control, which fully reflects the predicament of its so-called liberal democracy. The US political system fails to resolve the contradiction between individual liberty and public security and cannot maintain a balance between the two. The United States government is unable to correct the deteriorating situation in which the individual freedom to carry weapons causes heavy casualties and threatens public safety. “US Democracy” can’t find a way to solve the gun issue because the foundation of US democracy is general elections, which are inseparable from money. Gun-related interest groups gain political influence through monetary donations and they prevent the government from controlling guns. At the same time, candidates, with the purpose of winning more votes, often cater to voters who advocate the right to hold guns. In addition, US partisan politics has penetrated into the federal Supreme Court, which should be an independent national judicial body, causing divergence within the federal Supreme Court on gun control issues. The gun control issue reflects the fundamental dilemma of the US political system and declares that the US-style liberal democracy has encountered a dead end.文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/7493.html
