The recent shooting in Santa Barbara is a red flag in a sea of red flags: gun violence is America’s version of the African tragedy. Since 2006, there has been one mass killing nearly every two weeks in the United States, with 75 percent being committed by the use of a firearm. Firearm sales have set records every single year since President Obama has been in office; there have been four times as many firearms purchased as babies have been born in the U.S.

Currently, the U.S. ranks number-one in countries with the highest rate of civilian gun ownership per capita, according to the Estimating Civilian Owned Firearms report published by Small Arms Survey  in September 2011. Using a scale of comparison, Americans own more guns than Israelis or Iraqis living in the embattled Middle East. Furthermore, a 2013 Small Arms Survey report stated that between 1986 and 2010, gun manufacturers have produced more than 98 million pistols, revolvers, rifles and shotguns for domestic sale.