Gun Control in the U.S.

¶ … Gun Control in the U.S.

One of the controversial topics in the United States today is the issue of gun control. The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees the right to bear arms for self-defense. There is no doubt that the founding fathers of this nation had good reasons to pass the Second Amendment bill, but the circumstances have changed and the American realities today are different. The rate of homicides, including those involving guns, in the United States has reached frightening proportions. The right to carry guns should be allowed for law-abiding citizens but the regulation of gun possession must be stronger, otherwise the use of guns by deranged people who manage to kill human beings with guns will unfortunately continue.

The question of gun control has become an issue of utmost importance. It is important to decree a restrictive gun licensing system because the easy availability of guns leads to more deaths. The homicide and suicide rates in the United States are one of the highest in the world, and the highest in developed countries. Cross-country comparative studies, comparing the United States with countries that have similar political and social culture such as Canada, England, and New Zealand, have revealed that none of those have the same level of homicide and suicide rates (Hemenway). It is true that many of the homicides did not involve guns but it is also true that the availability of guns greatly increased the likelihood of deaths.

When the issue of gun control is raised, supporters of gun possession say that it is a constitutional right. They are right, but the Constitution was written over two hundred years ago and the founding fathers, as smart as they, could not have envisioned the realities of the twenty-first century. The Constitution remains our most cherished document but sometimes the Amendments might be needed to change its provisions. There is no need to make sentimental arguments, as some supporters of gun possession do, that the Constitution cannot be considered outdated. Yes, it can; otherwise, we would never have Amendments that ended slavery and permitted women to vote in national elections.

One of the most oft-repeated claims by gun supporters is that "guns don't kill people, people kill people." That statement is technically correct but is also overly simplistic. Guns do not kill people but they make it much easier to kill. There is no way Jareed Lee Loughner, responsible for shooting in Tucson, Arizona, on January 8, 2011, would have been able to kill six people and wound Representative Giffords without guns. And there is no way the Norway terrorist who took the lives of seventy youth in the Utoya Camp last year in July would have been able to kill so many people with baseball bats of pocket knives (Blodget; Henigan). And there are too many cases when the availability of guns increases the risk of homicides, even involving teenagers (Erbe). The idea that the easy availability of guns does not have anything to do with high homicide rates in the United States is a myth and a propaganda campaign of the National Rifle Association and others who support its ideology.

Let me illustrate the necessity of stricter licensing system by bringing an example from international affairs. There are a few nations that possess nuclear weapons but there is a general consensus among civilized nations, including most that do not possess nuclear weapons, that irresponsible nations must not be allowed to possess nuclear weapons. The reasoning behind this consensus is that a the availability of nuclear weapons will make it easy for a country like Iran to unleash attacks and kill lots of people. No one justifies Iran's right to possess nuclear weapons by saying that "nuclear weapons do not kill people, people kill people" although it is also a technically correct statement. Those responsible for international affairs do not make that argument because they know that the issue is much more complicated. There is no doubt that the availability of nuclear weapons all around the world will increase the likelihood of wars.