Problems of Gun Control Issues - Research Paper Example

? Gun Control There have been numerous incidents of shooting sprees in the United s even just in the past five years. The incident at Colorado during the opening of Batman Begins and that involving schoolchildren in Connecticut are only the tip of an iceberg. The problem is the lack of gun control while the real issue of gun control is deeper than it seems. It is actually an issue that is beset by several political obstacles as well as an inefficient enforcement of the current gun laws. Nevertheless, in order to put an end to the killings, there should be gun control measures in the United States and these measures should be strictly enforced by the federal government. When it comes to gun control in America, the most important thing is to impose a background check on everyone who buys guns and to strictly impose this as a part of a new gun control bill. The reasons for this are multifold. However, one of the main reasons for the imposition of the gun control bill is to minimize killings, or even to altogether prevent them. The shootings at the opening of Batman Begins in Aurora, Colorado and the shootings of 20 schoolchildren in Connecticut both in 2012 must have certainly made American lawmakers question the effectiveness of the gun control situation in the United States. In fact, the Senate’ vote on the failed gun control bill was disappointing because it showed that the lawmakers were actually not responding to several calls from the public on the imposition of stricter background checks for gun owners and buyers. In fact, according to Gallup editor-in-chief Frank Newport, regardless of the Senate’s vote on the failed gun control bill, “It is clear that more Americans support the concept of a law expanding background checks for gun purchases than say the Senate should have passed such a law” (Metzler). Americans have definitely learned much from their experiences with failed gun control measures. There is an argument that existing gun laws actually need to be strictly imposed first before any other gun control measure should be made into a law. However, based on details from the history of gun control laws in the United States, the instituted laws were already obsolete in nature and may not anymore apply to the current state of things. In fact, gun control history in the United States was a “history of tragedy” in terms of legislative action (U.S. Gun Control). Gun control measures have actually been implemented but perhaps not strictly imposed. In 1934, the National Firearms Act was signed by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in order to heavily tax sales of guns. The Gun Control Act was signed by President Lyndon Johnson in 1968 in order to declare as illegal the mail-order purchases of guns. In 1993 and 1994, the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act and assault weapons ban was signed by President Clinton in order to conduct background checks on gun buyers and ban semi-automatic assault weapons. Moreover, President Barack Obama and his administration also kept pushing for “more restrictive” gun control measures and laws (U.S. Gun Control). The existing gun laws like the National Firearms Act of Roosevelt is already in conflict with tax measures for the sales of guns which are imposed in every state. Thus, guns may be sold at a relatively cheaper price in some states. An example of a store in America that sells affordable guns, which are not heavily taxed is Cheaper Than Dirt, where a high power carbine is worth only $526, a hand gun is priced at $199 and a long gun at $143 (Cheaper Than Dirt). The Gun Control Act by Johnson is almost obsolete as guns are not anymore sold and delivered in packages by mail. They may in fact be bought straight from a gun shop. An example of a popular walk-in gun shop in America is American Gun Works based in California, whose website is found at americangunworks.net. One rather interesting but unfortunate feature of the shop is that it does not need a permit or license to carry a firearm as the State of California does not require it. Moreover, the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993 and 1994 actually applies only to a few specific gun types and not exactly to the whole range of guns which could be sold to anyone at the gun shop. Thus, it is basically reasonable for the Obama Administration to continue pushing the lawmakers to impose stricter laws and gun control measures in order to prevent any more killings that arise from this. The issue, therefore, is to impose a law on gun control which is updated and comprehensive and, most of all, strictly imposed. According to a report from Policymic.com, “The Obama administration has failed in gun control because it has failed to enforce existing gun laws” (MacBradaigh). Although some existing gun laws have been made obsolete by technology and the times, the call for a strong background check from the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993 and 1994 during Clinton’s time should still apply today. Nevertheless, the problem could indeed be with the Obama administration, who promised in 2007 to “enforce the gun laws that are on the books” but nevertheless failed to live up to such a promise (MacBradaigh). Moreover, CNN writer John Avlon states, “Before the Newton shootings, the Obama administration had not made enforcement of existing gun laws a political or policy priority,” and who even said, “During the Clinton administration there were efforts to fully enforce the gun laws we have” (MacBradaigh). More importantly, the Obama administration’s greatest failure is that it is “not strongly enforcing prosecutions of people who falsify information on their gun background checks” (MacBradaigh). Maybe, they fail in the verification process or perhaps the administration is just too lazy to check. It is also possible that the Obama administration was too busy and too focused on other things like housing. Nevertheless, the problem here is clear – although some of the existing laws on gun control have been considered obsolete, the thing about strict background checks for gun buyers is still definitely a workable aspect of the law, only that it is not imposed. Nevertheless, the Senators who supported the failed gun control bill are optimistic that the bill “would be brought up again before the end of the year,” thus, people must therefore be informed and fellow Senators must therefore be convinced of the beneficiality and practicability of the bill (Metzler). However, according to Newport, reminding the public of the failure of the gun control bill as declared by the votes of the Senate will somehow weaken the position of gun control advocates (Metzler). Thus, there is a need to educate the people through a balanced presentation of facts in order for them to make unbiased and more or less objective decisions regarding the issue. This is actually more important to lawmakers who will be the ones hopefully voting for the bill if it is brought up one more time before the end of the year. According to the senators who supported the failed gun control bill, the best way to approach the issue is to bring it up “outside [the context of] advocacy groups” (Metzler). Advocacy groups, although they may be in favor of the gun control ban, must give the whole idea of gun control measure an exaggerated and emotional background that may actually discourage the more logical advocates from supporting it. Senator Joe Manchin promised after the session on the failed gun control bill that he would reintroduce the measure in such a way that it should be easily supported even by those who voted against it recently. This bill includes a a requirement for criminal and mental health check for any buyer of guns online or at stores. According to Manchin, the only problem with the failed gun control bill is some details in its provisions that might have confused the lawmakers who voted against it (Failed federal gun control bill). This move by Manchin is good and important. Nevertheless, it should not fail to consider the shortcomings of the Obama Administration in the strict enforcement of gun control measures because no matter how strict the laws are, if they are not imposed then there is no way to see the benefits one can have from them. However, another problem regarding the failed gun control bill may actually be political in nature. This means that perhaps President Obama has once more failed to “master his relationship with Congress,” and that therefore “needs to be more forceful” in his sentiments regarding the formulation of laws for gun control (Guns and Gun Control Technology). Although this reason may be true and important, it is something that the ordinary American citizen cannot do anything about. What we have is only the assurance that the President will improve his current state of relations with the Congress so that he can possibly make them understand his sentiments regarding gun control measures. Aside from its obvious practical benefits of preventing any more killings, another reason for the imposition of a gun control bill is to foster a sense of responsibility among young people and among all citizens as well. This is especially true in a country where freedom is more of the rule than the exception. The provisions of the First Amendment must therefore be made clear and must clearly be taught in schools and even in communities. Freedom is definitely not an absolute one, and anyone who has too much of it will sooner or later become a dictator in his or her own right. Too much freedom, or perhaps unrestricted and unrestrained freedom destroys the lives of innocent people. The innocent victims of the Newton shootings in Connecticut are only a small percentage of those who have actually lost their lives to one man’s freedom to buy guns for himself. The most important thing about handling and exercising freedom is handling it with responsibility. One should therefore be responsible enough for one’s actions, and the best way to teach children and the rest of the American citizens about the limits of freedom is to impose laws on gun control and to strictly enforce it. In this way, the young people of today will definitely realize two very important things: first, that freedom is not true freedom when it is used to hurt others, and second, that any violation of the law and any violation against the life of another individual will always be dealt with in the name of justice. Otherwise, if gun measures are not formulated by lawmakers, or if formulated but not strictly enforced, young people and other citizens would tend to think that the federal government is not serious at all in their protection of the lives of citizens. Young people should be taught responsibility at an early age. If not, many of them may grow up as criminals. The following graph shows the ages of 14 up to 24 are indeed the age at which many American criminals kill: Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Homoffendersbyage.svg A third reason for the imposition of a gun control bill is to show respect to various public institutions where the carrying of guns is only secondary to its purpose. This means that it is all right to carry guns in military establishments as well as police stations but certainly not in schools and commercial establishments, unless one is a security officer. Although the National Rifle Association may insist that they can carry guns wherever they go for the sake of protection, one should rather interpret the issue based on the context of the universal law. If guns are allowed anywhere, does it also mean that one can carry guns freely while having a class in university, or while attending a church worship service? Not only would this definitely scare other people but children and young people might become more and more fascinated about guns and might decide to do the same thing. As some States have not imposed clear background checks on buyers of guns, these newly inspired violent people might purchase guns with an entirely different reason from those who responsibly carry them around. These irresponsible people would then start shooting at others if they see that a gun may be used to vindicate oneself or at least to reduce their stress levels. Therefore, no matter how sensible the reasons are of other people for carrying guns in public, they will always be misinterpreted by those who are themselves irresponsible citizens. Thus, gun control measures must be strictly enforced on all citizens, no matter how sane one’s reasons are for carrying a gun. A fourth reason for the imposition of new gun control measures is to give assurance to every American that America is a free but safe place to live in. according to Policymic, the failure of the Obama administration in strictly enforcing the existing gun laws of the country has resulted in “roughly 350 homicides” usually with handguns used nearly half of the cases (MacBradaigh). What kind of image do America and the American government want to project to the American people and to millions of potential tourists that are planning to visit the country? Therefore, if the government is serious at building a sense of security among the citizens, then they should strictly enforce gun control laws that would definitely at least make people feel that they live in a free but safe country. There are four reasons why gun control laws should be imposed and strictly enforced in the United States today. One of the reasons is naturally to reduce the killings or to prevent them altogether. This is, however, subject to political impediments as well as issues concerning the leniency of the Obama administration in the enforcement of existing gun laws. Another reason for imposing gun laws is to teach children and all other citizens the value of responsibility and to instill in them the idea that freedom and responsibility are inseparable. A third reason for gun control laws is to respect the sanctity of certain places where guns are not commonly carried and shown, as well as to avoid influencing the youth and irresponsible people from carrying guns on their own. Lastly, gun control measures are important in a sense that it is useful in creating the image of safety in America. Without this, tourism will eventually suffer and fear will most likely replace the feeling of security. Top of Form Bottom of Form Works Cited “American Gun Works.” 2013. American Gun Works. 29 Apr 2013. “Cheaper Than Dirt.” 2013. Cheaper Than Dirt. 29 Apr 2013. “Failed federal gun control bill on background checks to be reintroduced, senator says.” 2013. The Denver Channel. 29 Apr 2013. “Guns and Gun Control.” 2013. The New York Times. 29 Apr 2013. MacBradaigh, M. “Gun Control Facts: Existing Gun Laws Would Reduce Crime, But These Are Not Enforced.” 2013. Policymic. 28 Apr 2013. Metzler, R. “Majority Supports Failed Senate Gun Control Bill.” 2013. US News. 28 Apr 2013. “U.S. Gun Control: A history of tragedy, legislative action.” 2013. CBS News. 29 Apr 2013. Read More