JBAmerican Governments Just like how that cliché saying goes: “With great power, comes great responsibility” the modern era finds that many people with great power are fatally lacking that vital requisite of responsibility. Over the past few decades, there has been many issues with gun control in the United States. Numerous recent incidents has brought up the topic of gun laws and why we should or should not have them. As known to a large percentage of the public, the misuse of guns can directly be connected to the formation of viral organizations such as Black Lives Matter and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America: coalitions with goals to limit who should have access to firearms as well as the maximization of accountability. Many people believe that there should be a restriction to who can use a firearm, for example, to just that of police and soldiers in times of emergencies. Others on the opposite side of the spectrum believe that people should have the right to own a gun for their own protection, without exception as protected by the Second Amendment. But with numerous acts of terrorism such as school shootings, police brutality, attacks on large groups of innocent people, and a 31 percent increase in firearm related homicides from 2014 to 2016 according to NBC, debates on both sides of the discussion are battling to find a form of resolution.
With such a controversial and complex subject, several questions begins to arise with three vital questions being worthy of more attentive consideration for discussion: What should we consider to be the cause? What should we do to limit misuse? As well as what has the government already achieved in regards to this matter. The first is what should we consider to be the cause of gun misuse? Should we consider the reason being the lack of restrictive laws for these potentially dangerous tools? Is it more so, not the laws but more the few people managing that firearm? Many researchers are in heated debate over this topic due to the curious statistic that 80 percent of gun related deaths in the world is accounted for in the US as stated by Amnesty International. Mental illness is often the first subject to be brought up when this discussion is brought to the table. However, in the majority of cases in which homicides occur, well over 90 percent of them do not pass as a case related to insanity. Only around 1 percent are reportedly found to be of that nature. However insanity is not the only mental illness. As one could guess, depression and anxiety are typically major reasons for the occurrence of misuse. The issue is how to regulate the law so that those who are suffering from such ailments do not seek such irreversible measures as a solace to their pain. A plausible thought process would be to attack the mental attitudes of our population versus gun reform for after all, it is discovered that over 44 percent of our population is found to be stressed in accordance with the article stressed in America by the American Psychological Association. Perhaps the issue lies in the mentality Americans in contrast to other countries and not the gun access. The next line of thinking branches off from the question of what should we do in order to restrict such violence? Again, is more laws the answer or fewer laws? Should gun use and misuse be more forgiving or more strict? Should guns be reserved for soldiers and officers only? While observing statistics according to U.S.News.com, one can find that guns can be as much as a blessing as it is danger. In 2015, there was a count of 268 “justifiable homicides” in which carriers were saved from violent attacks by retaliating with a firearm in self-defense. As much of the Second Amendment community is endorsing for guns are first and foremost a tool for one’s protection. As the most effective method of combating home invasions, robberies, and other threatening situations guns are essential for many of those who take their and their loved one’s safety. Due to the fact that emergency response teams are not always able to arrive at the scene of the call quickly enough, it is more than understandable when considering how restrictive gun laws can be more of a hassle than it is a solution. Just as guns can take a life, guns are also many times the reason a life is saved. It becomes a slippery slope when the removal of guns violates the Second Amendment and prevents a person from doing what is necessary to protect themselves and their loved ones. And finally what actions has the federal government already committed to addressing these concerns? According to the article “The 2018 midterm elections may have exposed a shift on gun control” by Vox.com, advocates for stricter gun control has achieved some important victories. Washington’s statewide ballot encouraging the limitation of rifle access passed. Vermont’s governor, Phil Scott advocating for the strengthening of restrictions after the Parkland school shooting, even going as far as passing a law that allows officials to confiscate guns from people who are likely prone to committing violence. Where gun advocates saw a major victory was in Florida’s elections in which they successfully achieved a governor vying for gun access. Parties on both sides are battling to find the best solution to this messy problem and the discussion and debates continue on in hopes of making this country a safer place.
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AuthorUndergraduate student generated content. Blog posting and updating done by Kristina Flores Victor, Assistant Professor of Political Science at CSUS Archives
March 2020
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