By Alexis McCarney ’25, staff writer
Gun laws and control can spark very heated debates in the United States. The consistent rise in gun violence over the last few decades and last few weeks has put this topic at the forefront of many people’s minds.
The resistance to strengthening gun laws and creating some control over guns comes from the notion of following the Constitution of the United States exactly as it was written. The goal is to live life like it is 1791, which is when the second amendment was ratified, which grants citizens the right to bear arms.
It was stated that “Constitutional rights are enshrined with the scope they were understood to have when the people adopted them. Because the Second Amendment was adopted in 1791, only those regulations that would have been considered constitutional then can be constitutional now” in the case of District of Columbia v. Heller (2008). The case was monumental for how the second amendment is interpreted in court today.
Another case that is crucial in understanding gun control is New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n, Inc v. Bruen. In this case, the Supreme Court ruled that it is unconstitutional for New York State’s concealed carry law to require someone to provide a “proper cause” existed before they could receive a license that would allow them to carry a concealed revolver or pistol in public (nysba.org). This overturned a New York law that had been in place for over a century. This case sparked a lot of discussion about gun control and subsequent legislation to be passed to try to prevent guns from getting into the wrong hands.
In a recent case in West Virginia, a federal judge prevented a prohibition targeted at “ghost guns” that are untraceable due to a lack of serial numbers because, in 1791, privately owned firearms were not required to have them.
“In Texas, another federal judge recently ruled that it was unconstitutional to take guns from domestic abusers in part because men who beat their wives rarely were prosecuted, let alone forced to relinquish their firearms, until the 1970s” (New York Times). The government is making it easy for gun violence to occur.
The reluctance against passing gun control legislation comes from Republicans, who, along with their personal beliefs, fear losing their job and being voted out of office if they show support for tightening gun laws.
There is also the issue of not enough people voting when there are candidates on the ballot that support tighter gun control legislation.
There have been 12,711 gun violence deaths in 2023 as of April 20. 7,260 have been suicide, and the rest have been from other causes. Almost 10,000 people this year have been injured by guns in the United States. There have been 165 mass shootings and 16 mass murders. 77 children from ages 0-11 have been killed and 182 injured from guns.
These statistics are sickening. While I understand that there is someone behind the gun pulling the trigger each time, if they were not so easily accessible, the majority of these people would not be dead or injured.
From the side opposing gun control, the argument is that restricting access to certain guns would be infringing on their constitutional rights. However, the weapons of mass destruction that are available to civilians were not even fathomable in 1791. The technological advances in the centuries since the amendment was written have surpassed people’s wildest dreams.
There is no need for a civilian citizen anywhere to have access to military-grade weapons. There was once an assault weapons ban in the United States from 1994-2004. However, when it came time to renew it, no one was as passionate about it as they were a decade prior, and it went away. While this ban did not completely outlaw semi-automatic weapons, it restricted them.
A strong need for stricter gun control in the United States is dire; knowing the number of gun-related deaths and injuries only four months into the year is appalling. Acknowledging the fact that even with controls, there would still be tons of guns still in circulation, gun buybacks seem like an attainable first step in getting some of these horrific weapons off the streets and out of the hands of people who should not have them.
Currently, the only kind of background check is through NICS (National Instant Criminal Background Check System), which prohibits people from purchasing guns from licensed dealers if they are not supposed to. However, while this is useful, there are still other easy ways for guns to get into the hands of people they are not supposed to.
Many shooters acquire the guns they use in their crimes legally or steal them from family members. In some of the most recent mass school shootings, such as Nashville, Uvalde, and Parkland, the shooter purchased their guns legally. The list goes on; these are just a few examples. There is a lot that needs to be done about gun laws in the country; however, there seems to be no sign of moving forward in the near future. States are loosening their gun control laws and making it easier to obtain and carry guns in public with minimal documentation. New legislation is being signed into effect, which is taking steps backward and undoing the minimal progress that has been made in the past. In response to this, everyone needs to do their research and get to the polls. There is much at stake here.