Introduction
The circulation of weapons as a source of heightened hazard is subject to legislative regulation and control in the United States. It is commonly known that the United States is the most heavily armed country in the world in terms of small guns per capita. As a result, the United States has the world’s largest private arsenal. Historically, the right to buy, keep, and bear guns in the United States was codified in Amendment II of the United States Constitution.
The free carrying of weapons is lawful in most states in the United States. Maine, Louisiana, and Alaska have the laxest gun ownership laws. In 43 states, buying a gun does not need a license or registration (McCourt et al. 1546). 48,953 persons died in 2021, the highest number since 1981, when the CDC began collecting such data (McCourt et al. 1546). This leads to the conclusion that gun control must be scrutinized, regulations must be put in place, and the amendment must be revised to prevent mass killings and the use of guns by criminals.
The Urgency of the Problem
The National Rifle Association (NRA), the most prominent pro-gun ownership group, claims to be the oldest civil rights organization in the United States, having been formed in 1871. Opponents of unfettered gun ownership have long claimed that the Constitution only relates to weapons required for militias. However, the United States Supreme Court disagreed with this “narrow” approach, ruling in 2008 that Americans’ right to carry firearms is unconnected to their involvement in militias (Ponzini 699). However, the right to possess a gun has been restricted in many ways since its inception: African Americans, in particular, have long been denied this freedom.
The population of the United States of America is aggressively growing in the quantity of firearms. Every year, the number of firearms in private hands grows by 4.5 million barrels. As a result, Americans have the most significant private arsenal in the world. According to the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Weapons, there are currently more than 200 million weapons in the hands of around 60 to 65 million Americans (45% of American households) (McCourt et al. 1547).
Gun Ownership Requirements
State officials offer gun ownership authorization to anybody who satisfies specific conditions. These conditions may differ significantly from state to state but commonly include age limits, no criminal past, no history of psychiatric disease, and no criminal background. A person must be fingerprinted, and some states require them to attend a firearms safety course. Some states allow even former convicts to buy weapons, while others only allow sales to inhabitants of the state.
Furthermore, another requirement for selling a gun to a person is needed, and the authorization may be rejected without justification. Such laws are in effect in California and New York, for example. Additional states like Alaska, Arizona, and Idaho do not require permission. In some states, weapons must be kept unloaded at all times, while in others, people must always carry IDs (Anderson 10). As a result, acquiring a gun is simple in practically all states. Some do it for hunting, self-defense, or recreation. However, among the customers are those who get firearms for the most heinous crimes, such as murder and intimidation.
Florida’s Gun Legislation
Florida, where “Orlando shooter” Omar Mateen lived, has relatively permissive laws. Mateen legitimately acquired a pistol, and neither the vendor nor state officials had any legal reasons to refuse him. In Florida, anybody above 18 can purchase a firearm, including pistols and rifles. A permit is not required for a carbine or rifle, which are considered hunting weapons, but one is required for a handgun. There are no limitations on the amount of magazine cartridges in the state, and there are almost no restrictions on the kind of weapon: only assault rifles, machine guns, and sawed-off shotguns are outlawed.
Weapons purchased in Florida do not need to be registered, and there is no criminal background check when purchasing a gun. Mateen has a history of domestic violence, including beating and abusing his ex-wife (Addison 96). In Florida, however, this is not grounds for banning gun ownership: limitations are only placed on persons with open cases. If the matter is resolved and a reasonable amount of time has passed since the previous episode, the weapon will be sold.
Shootings in Florida
Omar Mateen, the Orlando shooter, legitimately obtained an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, which is popular among mass murderers. It was used during the Newtown tragedy, in which 20-year-old Adam Peter Lanza fatally shot his mom within the house on December 14, 2012, then drove to a school and killed 20 six- and seven-year-old children, six adults, and wounded two more (Addison 96).
An AR-15 was used to fire into a movie theater in Aurora when 24-year-old James Holmes killed 12 people and injured 59 on July 20, 2012 (Addison 96). This gun was also used in San Bernardino on December 2, 2015, when Syed Rizwan Farook and his girlfriend, Tashfeen Malik, shot people inside a building at a facility for individuals with disabilities, killing 14 and injuring 24 (Addison 96). These horrifying facts make it clear that the relatively free sale of guns is a real problem.
Current Policies and Improvement Efforts
Based on the norms imposed by the state, it can be inferred that the right to acquire, keep, and bear guns in the United States was historically prompted by the state’s need to assure, through organized and trained militias, the self-protection of the people and the defense of the state. This conditioning was dictated by the 13-state War of Independence against British occupiers (Ponzini 700). Citizens of the new state were granted the right to bear weapons and protect their country’s freedom. Militias, or organized militia troops, played a crucial part in this. However, weapons are increasingly being used for wholly other ends, and gun control legislation will need to be reassessed by the government.
However, the state is trying to improve the situation with the population’s circulation and possession of weapons. Senate and House of Representatives passed an 80-page gun control law (Cochrane and Carni 1). It will now be forwarded to the President for signing. The measure was created in response to two mass killings in the United States in May. More excellent financing for school security, significant increases in mental health monitoring and suicide prevention programs, and more lavish spending on other crisis support services are also part of the new plan.
It also intends to do more rigorous background checks on those between the ages of 18 and 21 who want to buy weapons (Greneet al. 4). Furthermore, it is recommended to restrict access to weapons for individuals who represent a threat to themselves or others, namely closing the loophole that permitted persons convicted of domestic violence to purchase firearms. There are also proposals to send large amounts of money to state budgets for them to build their legislation to restrict gun availability for potentially dangerous persons and to develop crisis intervention programs.
The new measure does not impose harsh limits. Still, in American culture, the outcomes of its examination are regarded as a success for the Democratic Party, which has long sought stronger controls on gun trafficking. However, it may not be sufficient because the significant issue is a shortage of licenses. If the government adopts stricter controls over who obtains a gun and what they do with it, it will help prevent many crimes (Braga and Cook 12).
It is also worth noting that some people may resale firearms, which police find challenging to manage. This is why the government has to implement a licensing system. To get a gun, a US citizen must present a medical certificate, a certificate of responsibility (criminal record), and a certificate of completion of shooting courses. A citizen must also get mandatory civil liability insurance for any injury that may be mistakenly caused to third parties and complete an application for a permit to acquire a gun. These efforts will assist in enhancing control over who obtains guns.
The reality is that the source of the problem is the Second Amendment itself. Moreover, America will continue to go from one mass murder to the next until the Second Amendment is abolished or the Supreme Court radically modifies it. One of the key reasons is that, in actuality, limits on gun ownership would not have stopped the majority of mass killings.
A prior example is the case of American Stephen Paddock, who executed the deadliest mass murder in US history in 2017 – 59 people were killed, and over 500 were injured (McCourt et al. 1549). Paddock bought the gun lawfully; he passed all of the required background checks, had no criminal record, and showed no evident indicators of mental illness. As a result, the government should review the Second Amendment and licensing.
Conclusion
To increase gun control, the United States government should reform the legislation by instituting licensing and the Second Amendment. The regulations for possessing and using personal guns in the United States have typically been set by individual states rather than the federal government. The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees the right to keep and bear weapons, which is part of the Bill of Rights. According to this amendment, guns are required for liberty, for the individual citizen to defend himself, to hunt, to protect his state from foreign attack, and to preserve the integrity of his rulers. These are the same reasons that proponents of unfettered gun ownership employ today.
However, in the modern world, the unfettered acquisition and possession of firearms have been abused by the American people. This has resulted in issues such as mass killings and intimidation. For this reason, the government should revise legislation regarding gun control. Irresponsible propaganda in support of gun purchases asserts that weapons make society safer when everything shows the reverse. Since weapons are readily available, the desire to commit murder may quickly lead to lethal deeds. The transition from hateful attitudes to violent hate crimes has increased. Society, particularly the most disadvantaged populations and minorities who already suffer persistent bias, pays a tremendous price for failing to stand up to lobbyists and take the essential actions to safeguard people from gun murder.
Works Cited
Addison, Stephone K. “Gun Control Policies and The Right to Bear Arms in America: A Utilitarian Perspective.” JL Pol’y & Globalization 123 (2022): 96.
Anderson, Carol. The Second: Race and Guns in a Fatally Unequal America. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2021.
Braga, Anthony A., and Philip J. Cook. Policing Gun Violence: Strategic Reforms for Controlling Our Most Pressing Crime Problem. Oxford University Press, 2023.
Cochrane, Emily, and Annie Karni. “Bipartisan Gun Bill Clears Initial Vote in Senate.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 2022. Web.
Grene, Kathleen, Amani Dharani, and Michael Siegel. “Gun Owners’ Assessment of Gun Safety Policy: Their Underlying Principles and Detailed Opinions.” Injury Epidemiology 10.1 (2023): 1-11. Web.
McCourt, Alexander D., et al. “Purchaser Licensing, Point-Of-Sale Background Check Laws, and Firearm Homicide and Suicide in 4 US States, 1985–2017.” American Journal of Public Health 110.10 (2020): 1546-1552. Web.
Ponzini, Robert. “The Evolution of the Gun Rights Debate in the US: Interpreting the Second Amendment in a Changing Historical Context.” Economia Aziendale Online- 14.3 (2023): 697-706. Web.