ReaganAmerican Governments Over the past several years, there has been countless mass shootings specifically here in the United States. The mass shootings that took place at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Route 91 Harvest music festival in Las Vegas, andmany more has sparked awareness and has brought the issue of gun control to light. In the wrong hands such as a trouble young adult or an individual with charges such as domestic violence may not be in the right mind to properly handle/own a gun. In the sense of gun control, there must be ways to control who is allowed to purchase a firearm.
There must be ways to control the accessibility of guns to prevent further harm to the innocent people. There are many ideas of preventing further gun violence that are proposed by many different people. One of the many ideas is to allow teachers to arm themselves. According to Kaitlyn Schallhorn’s article “Gun control measures proposed by Trump, lawmakers after Florida school shooting” found on Fox News, stated that “A school safety bill that, among other things, would allow up to 10 school personnel to be armed, narrowly passed the Florida state House in March, and Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican, signed it into law”. This means that the bill will require a three-day waiting period for rifle purchases, raise the age for buying rifles, and the ban of bump stocks. In addition, this will allow some teachers to arm themselves. In addition, this bill will allow law enforcements to take away guns from anyone who is considered as a danger to themselves or other people. Another popular proposal is the idea of strengthening background checks. Gun control advocates are worried that there are certain loopholes in the current system that people who shouldn’t be able to purchase guns may be able to obtain weapons through these loopholes. In Jason Pramuk’s article on CNBC News “House passes another bill to strengthen gun background checks as Trump pledges to veto”, discusses that President Donald Trump plans to veto the proposal of strengthening gun background checks. President Trump have previously stated that he would be open to strengthening background checks but now it seems the other way around. The White House also disagree with the bill because it goes against the Second Amendment advocates. The issue of gun control has been very inactive on the Federal level. As a result, gun control advocates are now moving towards state legislatures to make a change on the issue of gun violence. Based on an article on PBS News, “Why states, not Congress, are passing more gun laws”, written by Gretchen Frazee stated that “between 1991 and 2016, the number of gun laws in the U.S. increased by 57 percent, the State Firearm Law project group found." Most of these states were in favored of the Democratic side. There are some Republican-leaning states that are against any gun-related laws and perhaps this is the reason why there’s inaction at the Federal level. In the 2018 midterm elections, a state ballot initiative that strengthened Washington state’s gun laws by reducing the accessibility to assault rifles. Jason Crow is one of the victorious Democrats that represents Colorado’s 6th district is a gun control advocate and understand that gun reforms are needed. Another impact is that after the Parkland shooting, Governor Phil Scott, who is a Republican signed a gun control package that improved background checks and allowed officials to take guns from people who are at risk of violence. Florida’s Governor Rick Scott was previously an ally of the NRA (National Rifle Association) and signed a law regarding new gun regulations. By signing this bill, this will allow law enforcement officials to remove guns from dangerous people, to arm school personnel, and to improve school security and mental health treatment. During the midterms, Lucy McBath, representing Georgia’s 6th Congressional District, won against Republican Karen Handel. Lucy McBath’s son, Jordan Davis, was shot and kill in 2012 and as a member of congress, she states that she will push for gun safety such as background checks, raising the age to purchase a gun, and to keep guns away from dangerous individuals.
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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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