埃爾帕索市沃爾瑪槍擊案共有22名遇難者。這一駭人的數(shù)字使其成為了美國近十年來致死人數(shù)排在第五的槍擊案。導(dǎo)致10人遇難的代頓市槍擊案則排在第十一位。

When police officers are trying to solve a murder they look at motive and opportunity. That framework is useful for thinking about mass murders, too. The shooter in Dayton left no explanation for his actions.

當警察試圖去偵破一起槍擊案時，他們往往會考慮作案動機和機會。這一模式同樣適用于偵破大規(guī)模槍殺案。代頓市槍擊案的兇手沒有對他的行為作出任何解釋。

His social-media accounts show he was a misogynist with an interest in leftish causes. The El Paso killer posted a manifesto filled with racist anxiety about the replacement of whites by Hispanics, as well as language that could have been drawn from a Trump rally.

但從他的社交媒體賬號中可以看出，他是一個厭惡女性并對左翼事業(yè)頗有興趣的人。埃爾帕索市槍擊案的兇手曾發(fā)表過一份涉及西班牙裔將取代白人的充滿了種族主義焦慮的宣言，還發(fā)表過一些可能是援引于特朗普競選集會的言論。

If motive can be hard to attribute precisely, and policy correspondingly hard to design, the same is not true of opportunity. White nationalists can be found in many Western countries, as can politicians who exploit racial divisions.

如果說很難準確地確定兇手的犯罪動機，那么就很難制定相應(yīng)的防范政策，但機會就不同了。許多西方國家都存在白人至上主義者，利用種族分裂的政客也隨處可見。

But in a society where someone with murderous intent can wield only a kitchen knife or a baseball bat, the harm he can do is limited. When such a person has access to a semi-automatic weapon, which can hold 100 rounds of ammunition and discharge them in under a minute, it is grievous—and hence, lamentably, more seductive.

但是在一個只能揮舞著菜刀或棒球棒去實現(xiàn)殺人意圖的國家里，歹徒所能造成的傷害是有限的。但當這樣一個人持有了一件容量達100發(fā)子彈并能在一分鐘內(nèi)全部發(fā)射的半自動武器時，后果不堪設(shè)想——而可悲的是，持槍犯罪對歹徒更有誘惑力。

The answer is obvious: restrict the ownership of certain types of guns, as New Zealand did after the shootings in Christchurch, and introduce proper background checks.

解決辦法顯而易見：限制某些類型槍支的持有權(quán)（就像新西蘭在克賴斯特徹奇槍擊事件發(fā)生后所做的那樣），并進行適當?shù)谋尘罢{(diào)查。

Such measures will not prevent all gun deaths. The constitution will not be rewritten and too many weapons are in circulation. Yet given the number of fatalities, even a 5% reduction would save many innocent lives.

這些措施不足以防止所有槍殺事件的發(fā)生。憲法也不會被改寫，而且如今又太多的武器流通在外了。但鑒于槍殺事件的死亡人數(shù)，即使能夠減少5％的槍殺事件的發(fā)生也能挽救許多無辜的生命。

Mass shootings in America have become like deforestation in Brazil or air pollution in China—a man-made environmental hazard that is hard to stop. Such hazards are not cleaned up overnight. That should not prevent people from making a start.

美國的大規(guī)模槍擊事件就如同巴西的森林砍伐或中國的空氣污染這類人為環(huán)境危害一樣，難以阻止。這種危害不是在一夜之間就能消除的，但這不應(yīng)該阻止人們邁出第一步。

小編說：

作為世界頭號發(fā)達國家的美國近年來頻頻發(fā)生大規(guī)模槍擊事件，這在發(fā)達國家中是少有的。如果說問題是出在了白人至上主義者的身上，但許多歐洲國家也同樣有大量的白人至上主義者。因此，根本原因或許就在于大規(guī)模殺傷性武器的流通上，對于美國的歹徒來說，想弄到這些槍支太過容易。