Gun violence is increasingly becoming an unsettling characteristic of daily life in the United States, with alarming statistics confirming its prevalence.
Between 2020 and 2023, the Gun Violence Archive reported over 600 mass shootings per year, averaging almost two incidents every day.
The emotional and physical impact of this violence weighs heavily on young Americans, positioning gun violence as the leading cause of death for individuals aged one to 17.
According to a 2024 report by Everytown for Gun Safety, the Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab, and the Southern Poverty Law Center, it is alarming to note that the average American young person has a personal connection to gun violence, knowing someone who has either been injured or killed by a firearm.
However, the issue extends beyond U.S. borders, as American gun violence begins to seep into countries worldwide with concerning frequency.
In October 2023, a tragic incident in Graz, Austria, underscored this troubling trend when a 21-year-old gunman opened fire at his former school, resulting in the deaths of ten students.
Reports revealed that the assailant had developed a deep interest in U.S. school shootings and drew inspiration, particularly from the infamous Columbine incident of 1999.
This Austrian shooter exemplifies a growing phenomenon: individuals across the globe, motivated by American examples, are engaging in targeted violence.
Researchers like Jason Silva have documented this, indicating that mass shootings are becoming a growing, global trend.
In a report published in early 2024, Silva concluded that in a sample of 35 countries politically and economically comparable to the United States, public mass shooting incidents had more than doubled from the first to the second decade of the twenty-first century.
The peak of these incidents was notably observed in 2019 and 2020, with many linked directly to the actions of American shooters.
While the United States continues to grapple with its internal gun violence, it is also inadvertently exporting this form of violence to other parts of the world, undermining both its international reputation and geopolitical strategies.
Describing the United States as a global epicenter for gun violence is backed by data: over the past 50 years, while firearm-related death rates have remained steady, instances of mass shootings have significantly surged.
For context, between 2009 and 2018, the U.S. documented 3,500 times more school shootings than Mexico, which ranked second.
In international circles, the persistent narrative portrays the U.S. as a nation plagued by violence, prompting foreign governments and media to raise concerns about American gun laws.
At a 2023 Council on Foreign Relations event, former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas recounted how non-American politicians typically raised two pressing questions during discussions: one regarding the polarization of U.S. politics and the other about gun violence and the associated high number of killings.
A particularly poignant observation came from a Danish foreign correspondent after the 2022 Uvalde massacre, noting that only in the United States do schoolchildren attend classes with the knowledge of potentially needing to respond to an active shooter situation.
Editorials from foreign outlets, including France’s Le Monde, highlighted American exceptionalism in allowing schools to regularly turn into sites of mass shootings.
Yet, the perception that the U.S. is a blatant outlier in gun violence is becoming increasingly outdated.
A 2023 report by Wisevoter illustrated that European nations have seen a radical increase in both the frequency and severity of mass shootings over the last decade, indicating that targeted violence is a rising global issue rather than a uniquely American plight.
Scholarly research points to the contagious nature of gun violence.
The so-called Columbine effect illustrates how the actions of shooters in Columbine created a cultural blueprint for future attackers, encompassing ideological, tactical, and even stylistic choices.
Numerous incidents have been traced back to American shooters, with copycat attacks in Brazil, Canada, Finland, and Russia leading to numerous casualties.
Experts emphasize that fame-seeking motives among mass shooters from outside the U.S. correlate significantly with the influence of American perpetrators.
This trend encompasses shooters from various backgrounds: Alexandre Bissonnette, who killed six in a Quebec City mosque in 2017, actively researched American school shootings before his attack.
Even non-ideological attackers in other nations have drawn connections to their American counterparts: a would-be school shooter in England expressed intentions to surpass the notorious Virginia Tech massacre.
The horrific attack in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2019, further illustrates this reality, as the shooter aimed to make a significant impact in the U.S. and influence American politics through his violence, seeking to spark anti-gun sentiment that would contribute to societal collapse.
In this way, American culture’s glorification of violence can have far-reaching consequences, as demonstrated by the responses of countries around the world.
For instance, U.S. social media platforms have received criticism for being less regulated compared to their international counterparts, contributing to the glorification of violence.
This has resulted in legal action from several plaintiffs in 2023 against major platforms like Google and X—formerly Twitter—for allegedly facilitating terrorist activities linked to past incidents abroad.
The aftermath of these lawsuits led international regulators to explore ways to mitigate the malignant influence of American social media.
Australia took steps in 2024 to prohibit children under 16 from utilizing social media, reflecting concerns over mental health and the platforms’ role in amplifying violent extremism.
Similarly, the European Union’s Digital Services Act empowers regulators to impose considerable fines on companies that allow the spread of illegal content, including hate speech and terrorism-related materials.
X is currently under scrutiny for its compliance with this new legislation, facing the potential for significant fines or even prohibition in EU territory due to its handling of harmful content.
Despite the domestic focus on gun violence, policymakers in the United States must recognize that the gun violence crisis has broader implications beyond local tragedies.
America’s gun violence problem has substantial repercussions for its soft power and overall foreign policy.
Recent events, such as the September 2024 arrest of two U.S. citizens leading an online movement that incited violence abroad, highlight this reality.
These individuals were charged with promoting attacks that harmed victims in both Slovakia and Turkey, underscoring the international dimensions of America’s gun violence issue.
Consequently, U.S. public perception is suffering due to the resulting stigma tied to incidents of gun violence.
A range of countries, from Australia to Germany, have issued travel advisories warning their citizens about the risks associated with visiting the United States.
For example, the Canadian government cautioned travelers to familiarize themselves with protocols for responding to active shooter situations before embarking on a trip to the U.S.
A 2022 poll in China revealed that a staggering 93% of respondents believed that fears regarding violent crime would cause them to reconsider travel plans to the United States.
In addition to direct consequences on travel policies, countries grappling with rising gun violence often direct blame toward the United States, viewing its gun culture as a corrupting influence.
After a pair of mass shootings in Serbia in 2023, a Serbian war veteran publicly criticized the U.S. for reshaping his country’s relationship with firearms.
Furthermore, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives found that nearly half of the firearms seized at crime scenes in Mexico between 2017 and 2022 originated from U.S. manufacturers.
In response, Mexico has pursued legal action against American gun manufacturers in an effort to mitigate the flow of trafficked firearms.
The global narrative surrounding U.S. gun violence is also manipulated by its adversaries, who leverage the issue to undermine the American image on the world stage.
Russian President Vladimir Putin attributed a school shooting in Crimea in 2018 directly to the influence of the United States, remarking, “it all started with the United States and their schools.”
In 2022, even the Russian Supreme Court labeled the cultural phenomenon stemming from school shootings in the U.S. as a terrorist organization.
Beijing, too, has seized upon U.S. gun violence as ammunition to deride American principles, claiming that the U.S. contributes instability to other nations rather than offering democracy or human rights advancements.
The accusation points to the outbreaks of gun violence in Mexico and Pakistan as illustrative of the damaging effects of American firearms.
The implications of American gun violence extend to eroding the legitimacy of U.S. efforts to criticize other countries about their treatment of citizens, thereby undermining the credibility of its foreign policy initiatives.
The concept of soft power, popularized by American political scientist Joseph Nye, illustrates the importance of cultural appeal in shaping global influence.
Historically, the U.S. has exercised significant soft power, leveraging cultural exports to attract other nations.
It became clear that any continued proliferation of gun violence as a new American export could have detrimental consequences for the nation’s image and global standing.
In light of the persistent tragedies involving gun violence in America, escalating geopolitical concerns may necessitate more concerted efforts from U.S. leaders to address these issues.
The ongoing murder of schoolchildren alarmingly has yet to invoke substantial reform, despite the widespread implications of gun violence at home and abroad.
If the United States’ leadership prioritizes the ramifications of gun violence, the country might regain its lost influence and counteract the erosion of its soft power.
American gun violence has transformed into an uncharacteristic export, threatening to upset the established balance of power if not addressed more diligently by policymakers.
The question remains: will America’s leaders choose to take meaningful action against gun violence, or will continued ignorance only serve to exacerbate its international repercussions?
image source from：foreignaffairs
