In the wake of numerous mass shooting our national government has responded through protest. The United States of America was decimated by the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings in Newtown, Connecticut. This, of course, sparked the great gun debate once again. The President, Congress and the Senate began the arduous process of changing the gun laws nationwide. The typical players got involved; Politicians, Gun Makers, The National Rifle Association (NRA), Anti-gun activists, teachers, parents and gun owners alike. The debate is not whether we need gun reform, the debate is how do we reform current laws on the books and satisfy everyone. The reality is, we may not be able to do that. Proposals for mandatory mental health checks, national gun registration, assault rifle bans, decreases in magazine capacity, stringent training requirements and pistol permit processes that take six months to almost two years have been …show more content…
Can these proposals be turned into legislation and truly curb gun violence? Shortly after the Newtown shooting, President Barack Obama announced the formation of a Gun Violence Task Force led by Vice President Joe Biden. On February 8, 2013, after consulting with a broad array of interests representing law enforcement, legal, mental health, civil rights, religious, and other interests, the task force presented its recommendations to the President. On January 16, the White House announced an ambitious package of legislation proposals and 23 Executive actions intended to lessen the likelihood of future mass shootings and reduce gun violence generally (Congressional Digest, 2013, pg. 8). The proposal’s would just impact mass shootings scenarios but gun laws across the entire United States to include every major city. The proposals were not accepted or adopted and no new national legislation has been instituted. This did not stop individual states and municipalities from enacting
On December 14th, 2012, the lives of thousands, and indirectly millions changed after the shooting of twenty children and six teachers were fatally shot by the infamous Sandy Hook Elementary school shooter, Adam Lanza. This event was so dramatic and sickening the world stopped in it’s tracks waiting for what was going to happen next. In the aftermath of the tragedy, the cauldron was stirred and the underlying question resurfaced; What should we do about gun control laws? Should the people of America even have guns? After a number of shootings occurring and Sandy Hook occurring, Barrack Obama addressed the event and spoke about “reducing gun violence” and promoting “gun safety” drawing many citizens to support his cause.
The state and region that individuals live in greatly determine their opinions on how gun control and amendment application should be interpreted. A study was done 4 months after the sandy hook mass shooting where children were killed, the study determined the belief of gun control after this tragedy. The researcher Kevin H. Wozniak found that, “ [only] a slim majority of Americans favors a semiautomatic weapon ban and proposals to make gun control laws stricter,” (Wozniak 2). Even directly after a mass shooting there is only a slim majority on a weapons ban. This makes it clear that the beliefs of guns in American culture are too deeply rooted and the county has become too dependant on them.
If you haven’t been keeping up with today’s debates, then I advise you should. You might know many of the top topics that people have always argued over for a hundred years now like abortion, the legal drinking age, and the death penalty, but what I am going to talk about is none of these, I’ve chosen instead everyone’s favorite topic which of course is gun control! Gun control has been a huge topic of discussion in the United States today. Recently, there has been many unpleasant events that have happened involving guns, and if you haven’t kept up much with the news and are wondering why is this certain issue being brought up a lot here recently? Then let me to tell you.
The article “The Dirty Secret About The Four Senate Gun Control Bills” by John R. Lott points out that all the gun control laws aren’t helping anything. John starts off by talking about the Orlando massacre, and how the government was trying to help prevent that. Then he goes on to talk about the senate gun control laws trying to be passed for the purpose of stopping shootings such as the Orlando Massacre. But the fact is that the gun control bills, if passed before the Orlando Massacre, would have done nothing to prevent it. The bills just didn’t do anything to help prevent the massacre.
Mass shootings have become a commonality for Americans, and we as a country have become used to the high death toll associated with these tragedies. Killers armed to the teeth seek a highly dense hunting ground to rake in as many kills during their bloodbath. Mass shootings are not uniquely an American problem, but they are uniquely common here. Federal bans, public safety campaigns, and state laws have attempted to attack the mass shooting dilemma. As shootings continue, the issue remains a prevalent debated topic in politics and leaving many dumbfounded on what course of action needs to be taken to save us from the plight we’re in.
Since 1966, there have been 150 mass shootings in the United States. Over 1,000 people have been killed, and over 150 of those people were children or teenagers. These statistics are brought up in a heartbreaking article by The Washington Post, titled “The Terrible Numbers that Grow with Each Mass Shooting,” written by By Bonnie Berkowitz, Denise Lu and Chris Alcantara. After the most recent school shooting in Parkland, Florida, debates on gun control have once again sparked up. This has happened far too many times for change not to occur.
In 2013 following the devastating Sandy Hook Elementary School and the Aurora movie theater shootings the Obama administration has a released a plan detailing the President’s plan to “reduce gun violence”. This plan explicitly states that the President strongly believes in the Second Amendment and it’s protection of the right to bear arms. The plan includes a mix of initiatives, executive actions and legislative actions that are preemptive – making it harder for firearms to fall into the wrong hands. This plan includes but not limited to extensive background checks, stronger bans on assault weapons, limitation of ammunition magazines to 10 rounds, getting rid of armor piercing bullets, initiating extensive research on gun violence and quality coverage of mental health treatment. Through this plan, President Obama aims to reach potential criminals early by incorporating education about gun violence into high school curriculum.
To understand the extent of how common mass shooting and gun violence is in our nation and why it feels like the nations is numb to gun violence, president Obama in his last national, which he was addressing the gun violence tragedy at Umpqua Community College, Roseburg, Oregon, said, “The reporting is routine. My response here at this podium ends up being routine. The conversation in the aftermath of it. We've become numb to this.” If the president expressed his feeling towards the frequency of gun violence tragedy and how predictable giving a national eulogy was, then it would be safe for me to assume that gun violence is a national issue that needs to be addressed and since nothing has changed so far, it is evident that the presidents speech is not as impactful towards law makers and the
This solution is undoubtedly the most controversial method of action, but it ultimately can provide the most headway. The proposition is this: the country creates laws that control gun retailing and manufacturing in order to prevent a majority of gun related crimes and accidents. The laws would require consumers to have proper licenses before purchasing a firearm, and they would restrict certain people from purchasing firearms, such as ex-convicts and adolescents. People who already have licenses would have to get them renewed, not unlike driver’s licenses. However, this solution meets much opposition.
Everyone wants a safer community to live in, and keeping guns out of the hands of dangerous people is the number one goal. The policies that have been proposed to accomplish this have been diverse and debated. Two sides have formed on a specific procedure to lower the gun violence: those who want age restrictions on guns to keep them out of the hands of the younger generation
“You won’t get gun control by disarming law-abiding citizens. There’s only one way to get real gun control: Disarm the thugs and the criminals, lock them up, and if you don’t actually throw away the key, at least lose it for a long time.” – Ronald Regan By the time you’re reading this, it’ll have been a week since a community college in Oregon has had spilled blood by yet another psychopathic killer, and another community has been torn by lost loved ones.
On, February 14, 2018, a mass school shooting in Florida got the nation’s attention, however, gun violence has always been an issue, and it is only getting worse. Now people are saying there needs to be something done, and there are many that agree. Starting off there should be stricter gun laws, because in today’s world it is too easy to get handguns and assault rifles. With, the capabilities a firearm holds, such as taking people’s lives there must be stricter restrictions that could help cut down the gun violence and save lives. Increasing the age of purchasing a firearm would be one step.
In order for us to achieve the goal of making America the future it wants to be, we need to reform gun laws and assure that firearms are in safe and legal hands. We need to unite to stop the illegal immigration flowing into this country and slowly bring an end to climate change and global warming. Gun laws in this country are way too lenient and it needs to be stopped. It’s tragic to say that gun violence, such as mass shootings happen so often in today’s society. Compared to countries around the world, the United States has the highest mass shooting rate.
This paper also provides an interesting solution to gun violence; instead of already proven ineffective gun control laws, these authors suggest looking at why these laws are ineffective. Planty, Michael, and Jennifer
Everyday in the United States, ninety families are changed forever; guns claim an average of ninety lives every day in the United States, 33,000 lives in a single year. Gun control has been a debate in the United States for many years and is constantly thrusted back into the public’s attention by horrific shootings. These shootings constantly cause individuals to petition the government to place stricter and stricter regulations of guns. However, these policies cannot be the solution to this problem. To determine a solution that will be both effective and constitutional, we must look at statistics and research that has been conducted to determine the best course of action.