The United States is in a controversy of whether or not the Second Amendment is protecting our country or killing it. The United States owns approximately 250 million guns, nearly one for each citizen, and grows about 7 million each year. Experts believe that the Second Amendment in the Constitution is rational and legal, author of, Handgun Prohibition and the Original Meaning of the Second Amendment Don B. Kates states that the “Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that weapon for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home; however, they do not say that you can go around shooting people and claiming that you are protected by the Second Amendment. According to CNN news, the Second Amendment is loosely written, holding loop holes that others seem to find, such as Benjamin Ferguson, who bought a silencer which “falls into the same category of Tiltle II weapons as rockets and machine guns” (Bordeaux).Which provide some serious problems within the people and government of the United States.
One hopeful way of addressing this problem is to make gun safety course videos for the younger crowd about late elementary, early middle school, and again early high school years as a reminder, to explain that guns are not toys and can obviously cause massive destruction or serious injuries. Using the example of the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting it could hit home and open the eyes of the students to realize the damage it could cause.
To what extent will these actions of prevention reduce the problems of Gun Control? Is it really truly preventable?
Many people think so; however, if a larger majority of the country did then there would be no argument about the problem. In the article “The Next gun Fight” author Michael Schered talks about the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting, and how the Second Amendment isn’t exactly an amendment worth saving in the eyes of the victims. At the top of the article there is a section about Obama and Vice President Biden, on how they are doing their best on keeping the country safe, and keeping its rights. On the other hand people, such as Wayne LaPiere the Vice president of the NRA claims, “a massive Obama conspiracy to deceive voters and hide his true intentions to destroy the Second Amendment.” (Schered). Even though this may or may not be true, LaPierre’s envision, could hold a massive debate in the people’s mind to see if this is what they really want. Do they want guns removed for good? Or do they want stricter gun laws and a processing system to go along with it?
Obama’s and Biden’s optimism about these new gun proposals sums up the common view on those affected by past incidents having to do with the issues of guns. Although their view on the gun control subject is a dream come true to some, the likelihood of this actually happening is unlikely. But what I discovered is the problem with the gun issue is not the guns, but the people handling them and the laws that surround them. One of my findings was the difference of the amount of gun incidents that have happened from 1993 to 2011. You would think that there would be a dramatic difference in a negative way; however the gun problem has actually decreased in all categories with one exception, the category of suicide. One approach to having a rational way to handle the gun control problem, in article “ Loop-Hole allows for easier purchase of high powered weapons,” according to the Republican Virginia Foxx “New laws will do us no good if they burden responsible gun owners and small businesses but fail to stop sick people before they turn to evil.” (CNN) This statement supports the process of a written and verbal examination, to make sure that the gun owner to be is actually sane, not mentally disturbed or having an untreated physiological disorder. The only problem with this approach defined by Republican Tom Price “I don’t think we have a correct diagnosis of the challenges that are out there for individuals with mental illness who can potentially become a harm for a society,” (CNN)
Another method would to do a background check. This method would be able to determine if the person has had any felonies, other major convictions, or any previous or current gang affiliation. Neither of the processes is cheap but it could help with the countries finance for how many guns in the US are purchased each year. According to Fawn Johnson, author of “Gun-Buyer Background Checks Both Effective and Politically Achievable” states that “Background checks are easy when it comes to criminals. Ninety-five percent of the public and 74 percent of National Rifle Association members support a system that checks gun buyers against a list of felons.” Another article called ”Will He Fight or Compromise” by author Farred Zakaria gives even more supportive information that goes with Johnson stating that “large majorities favor some commonsense controls: 85% of Americans support universal background checks; 80% support preventing those with mental illnesses from buying guns; 58% and 55%, respectively, would ban semiautomatic and assault-style weapons.” These collective pieces of research define what the majority of the people want, and what they find as proper measures.
The next likely source of another method would be from the government’s decision which depending on which side you are on is either rational or irrational. Obviously if you are politically on the Republican side, then you would want measures that could take place now and be effective, and on the other hand we have the Conservatives, which fall under Obama who wants to provide the country with a solution that will please everyone in some way but more lenient towards those effected by the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting since those effected are driving the movement currently for change. This sounds like a good idea because once the decision is done then it’s done; except, the impact is not perfectly ideal. We make laws all the time, which end up being broken; this idea is no different than the past laws made. But laws could potentially set a standard rule to those unwilling to disobey the law which is a good approximate of 83% or more of general population. That alone is a high percent which could lead a big change or even a bigger dispute if the people keep driving for either side.
Although there seems to be many methods on how to handle gun control, the current methods being looked at and discussed are not fulfilling the claim of proper gun control because there will never be a 100% satisfaction. The problem with gun control is not with the guns themselves but the people and the lack of a process with no loop-holes to obtain the weapons. I am not agreeing with any of the information because there is so many views that could potentially be well represented; however I do support the idea of having a system which could filter out those who would be a danger to society if they were to obtain a gun. I hope that someday the gun problem in the United States will eventually go away, but even I know that is a dream that will never happen. But in my research, I discovered some sort of a gleam of hope for the future, the fact that our nation has awareness of the situation and is acting upon it, shows that maybe in the future there will be at least a decline in the gun control issue in the United States, weather it is a steady decline or a rapid decline, all that matters is the change comes with it. But what I have discovered in my research is that gun control is not as simply preventable as I thought.
Work Cited
Zakaria, Fareed. “Will He Fight Or Compromise?.” Time 181.6 (2013): 20. Academic Search Premier. Web. 18 Mar. 2013. SCHERED, MICHAEL. “THE NEXT GUN FIGHT. (Cover Story).” Time 181.3 (2013): 24-33. Academic Search Premier. Web. 18 Mar. 2013. Johnson, Fawn. “Gun-Buyer Background Checks Both Effective And Politically Achievable.” National Journal (2013): 4. Academic Search Premier. Web. 18 Mar. 2013. Kates B Don, Handgun Prohibition and the Original Meaning of the Second Amendment Volume:82. Issue:2 (November 1983): Pages: 204-273. Print. Bordeaux ,Lacy. Emma. “Loophole allows for easier purchase of high-powered weapons.” CNN Radio, May 25 2011. Web. 18 March 2013.
