The recent killing of three police officers, responding to a domestic assault in Pennsylvania, was not an isolated incident but part of a persistent national crisis. It followed several other acts of gun violence across the US, including a mass shooting at a Catholic school in Minneapolis in August, where two children and the perpetrator were killed and 30 others were injured. Another mass shooting in Alabama, killed two people and injured 12 in early October. Such instances of mass shootings serve as a stark reminder that in a country that remains awash with guns, no one is safe.

The deeper truth is that gun violence is not just a policy failure, it is a cultural crisis. Firearms are treated as symbols of individual liberty in America. Violence is also deeply woven into the American identity, reinforced by blockbuster movies and video games which glorify aggression and social media platforms that amplify sensationalised acts of violence, normalising fear and conflict as a natural part of everyday life.

State-sanctioned violence in the US is also........

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