▶ Shooting without prior warning, teenagers making sacrifices
▶ 30 states allow self-defense outside the home… “Side effects of increasing the frequency and range of the use of firearms”
Ralph Yal, a 16-year-old boy, was shot by his landlord after ringing the doorbell at the wrong house in Kansas City, Missouri. [로이터]
13 (local time) Kansas City, Missouri, USA. Ralph Yal, a 16-year-old African-American boy who was on an errand from his parents to pick up his twin from playing at a friend’s house, was unexpectedly shot. He mistakenly rang the doorbell of another house because he mistook the address of his home, but Andrew Lester, an 84-year-old white man who was there, opened fire.
Yal was lucky enough to save his life. However, in American society, there was a lament that “no child should live in fear of being shot for ringing the wrong doorbell” (Vice President Kamala Harris).
Two days later, Kayleen Gillis (20), who was lost on her way to a friend’s house in Hebron, New York, went the wrong way on private property and was shot and killed by her landlord. It is known that the gunman Kevin Moahan (65) shot Gillis and his group without any prior warning as they left the car. Both the female victim and the landlord were white.
On the 18th, in Texas, a group of teenagers who misplaced their car in a supermarket parking lot after practicing cheerleading and opened someone else’s car door were shot and seriously injured. On the 19th, a 6-year-old girl and her parents were shot while playing basketball with her parents. It all started when a basketball ran into a neighbour’s yard.
In American society, shooting a day or two is not an old thing. However, the shootings that took place across the United States in the last 10 days are raising new debates about the principle of ‘legitimate self-defence’ and the scope of gun control. There were also complaints about having to be shot for ringing the wrong doorbell, hearing the wrong road, and opening the wrong car door.
In particular, the cases in Missouri and New York made me think about the extent to which self-defense for individual self-relief would be allowed. The ‘Castle Doctrine’ is applied in about 20 states in the United States. The intention of the Castle Doctrine, which originates from the Middle Ages, is that ‘everyone has his own castle or sanctuary, so that anyone who tries to invade his house can exercise the right to defend himself’.
In addition, the New York Times (NYT) reported that 30 states in the United States are adopting the “Stand Your Ground” law, which extends the scope of self-defense outside the home. The Stand Your Ground Act, which means “don’t back down,” stipulates that if you feel your life is threatened, defending yourself with a firearm, etc., is up to age outside the home is a legal protection. The NYT said, “Opponents say this law increases violence and weakens the police,” and “there is reasonable evidence that this law increases overall gun homicide rates.”
According to the Gun Violence Archive, an American non-profit organization, 20,200 gun violence-related deaths occurred in the United States last year. This year on the 22nd, 12,933 people have been killed by firearms. Excluding gun suicides (7,392), only 5,541 people died due to gun murders and accidents.
Washington = Correspondent Jeong Sang-won>
