Introduction
The right to bear arms, as stated in the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, is the primary argument used to justify the purchase and ownership of weapons within the United States (Wheeler, 2001). Its justification has always been under the concept of self-defense wherein citizens of the U.S. have the fundamental right to be able to defend themselves against an aggressor as need be (Wheeler, 2001).
What is unusual though in this particular case is that while lobbyists for the continued sale and manufacture of weapons in the U.S. state the apparent need for firearms as a method of defense what they fail to mention is the fact that firearms are one of the leading causes of death within the U.S. It can be stated with certainty that the production and sale of firearms within the various states is one of the most frequent causes of death for Americans aged 15 to 24 (Violence, 2005). Statistics show that ever since the 1960’s well over a million Americans have died as a result of firearm related causes with 2003 alone having 11,920 people within the country dying due to firearm related homicides with 730 people dead due to unintentional shootings (Violence, 2005).
Various studies have shown that among all the other causes of death within the U.S. firearm related deaths are the most preventable if only sufficient legislation were enacted to prevent their use. Unfortunately, lobbying by the gun industry to prevent the creation of any new legislation to control the production and sale of firearms has always begun with the argument that it is a constitutional right of the American people to own a weapon to defend themselves.
With the sale of firearms being a multi-billion dollar in the U.S. alone it comes as no surprise that no true piece of legislation has been enacted that can truly curb the trend in firearm use and purchase. Based on this information, this paper will investigate the causes behind gun violence in the U.S. and its repercussion on American society. This paper believes that the current system of legislation towards guns is inherently flawed and is the real reason behind the escalating deaths due to gun violence within the country.
Causes behind Gun Violence in the U.S
Easy Access to Guns
On a Friday morning on April 2009 a lone gunman, identified as Jiverly Voong, a 41 year old resident of Binghamton, New York charged into the American Civic Association and started a massacre that killed 13 people before he committed suicide by turning the gun on himself. On that same week just a day after the massacre, three Pittsburg police officers were similarly gunned down in the same brutal fashion as they responded to an apparent domestic disturbance call which ended when Richard Poplawski, a 23 year old resident of same Binghamton area gunned down the officers in cold blood with his AK-47 assault rifle which he owned legally based on state documents.
An examination of the suspect’s home revealed four more guns, each legally owned, licensed and registered to Richard Poplawski. In fact, on March of the very same year seven U.S. shootings had killed over 48 people all with guns that had been registered from various gun stores in the local areas of the shootings. While it may be true that the American constitution protects the rights of its citizens to defend themselves the fact remains that it seems to be making it rather easy for the wrong type of people, namely those who are potentially dangerous and psychotic, to own guns themselves.
Current legislation aimed at controlling the sale and ownership of guns within the U.S. limits gun ownership based on strict identity checks and the need to carry separate identification both for ownership of a weapon and the right to conceal it. Despite these apparent precautions a large percentage of gun related violence within the country is caused by legally owned weapons with people owning the right types of licenses to have them. On the other side of spectrum guns that are sold without background checks are also easily obtained as well. A 2009 investigation done by ABC nightly news showed that various gun shows that occur in several states throughout the country allow the purchase of various types of firearms with no background checks and no questions asked (Cole, 2008).
The gun that was purchased in the documentary was a Glock, semi automatic pistol, similar to the kind used in the Virginia Tech massacre that killed 32 students. As it turns out private sellers at various gun shows are not required by state law to conduct background checks when they sell firearms (Cole, 2008). It is a loophole that is present in the laws of 33 other states within the U.S. which enables nearly anyone to purchase a gun despite problems with their background (Cole, 2008).
Failure of the Brady Handgun Prevention Act
The Brady handgun prevention act which was signed into law on November 30, 1993 and effective on February 28, 1994 was an act of Congress meant to reduce the amount of firearm related deaths by having federal background checks become a necessity for firearm purchases within the U.S. The reasoning behind it was rather simple, by keeping guns out of the hands of people convicted of crimes in the past it was thought that this would in effect reduce the amount of gun related violence.
While it can be stated as having been marginally effective with nearly 1.8 million firearm purchases blocked by the background check system the fact remains that a large percentage of gun related crimes within the U.S. are still committed by individuals who have passed the background check system. The problem with the Brady prevention act was that it was specifically created to target former felons or criminals who are already in criminal databases however what it neglects to accomplish is to prevent the sale of weapons to individuals who are not in the system(Where do the guns come from, 2009).
The fact remains that a large percentage of crimes committed in the U.S. today are done by criminals who have yet to be registered under the criminal database of the U.S. as such they can purchase weapons from various gun shops with impunity. Another factor to consider is the fact that guns can be purchased from various gun shows around the country through private sellers that do not require background checks (Where do the guns come from, 2009). As a result the Brady prevention act is largely ineffective due to the various loopholes and alternative means of acquiring firearms that people can employ within the country.
Failure of Proper Government Monitoring of the Sale of Firearms
One of the first gun laws instituted by Congress in the U.S. was the NFA or National Firearms Act created on June 26, 1934, which sought to impose taxes on producing and selling certain types of firearms as well as creating a registration system for particular guns. It was anticipated that through proper control of the production of firearms as well as knowing where a particular gun came from and who it was sold to, criminal cases could thus be solved that much quickly and proper gun control measures could be implemented. While the act was successful for a time in properly tracking the sale of guns to particular owners the fact remains that today the proliferation of gun ownership has resulted in the act being largely unsuccessful in preventing the continued escalation of firearm related deaths in the country (Roth, 2002).
The true problem is not in tracking the sale of guns but in preventing their mass proliferation. What the Binghamton massacre has taught us is that the proliferation of firearms has escalated to such an extent that people can now legally own more than five guns at any one time. Some of these guns are even military grade weapons that really should not be in the hands of civilians. Monitoring and tracking guns only serve to estimate how many guns are in ownership and to whom they belong however such a method cannot feasibly prevent a person from pulling the trigger of a gun and killing someone (Roth, 2002). The best and most effective method of gun control is to prevent a person that will use a gun from having a gun in the first place.
Popular Culture Programming
Various studies conducted on examining the effects of violent programming on audiences have shown that audiences that have been exposed to more violent T.V. programming over the years are more likely to engage in violent actions themselves due to the result of an apparent inculcation to violence. It must be noted that T.V. viewing is one of the most influential forms of information distribution and behavioral modification in that people tend to believe what they hear from T.V. and emulate the actions of their favorite stars.
Violence has become such a staple of entertainment in today’s pop culture society that it has permeated itself to such an extent that most individuals cannot imagine achieving any form of entertainment value from other types of media programming that does not contain at least some form of violence. The result is an apparent emulation by some individuals of what they see on TV resulting in a form of inspiration towards committing acts of violence using firearms.
Methods of Preventing Gun Related Violence in the U.S.
Extend Background Checks to Include Gun Show Sales
As mentioned earlier, one of the problems with gun violence in the U.S. is easy access to firearms through gun shows in the 33 states that allow private sellers to sell guns without conducting extensive background checks. This allows the proliferation of possibly unregistered handguns to enter into the general population resulting in the potential for unmitigated gun violence to occur. It has already been shown that the firearms used in the Virginia Tech massacre could be easily purchased by any person visiting one of many gun shows scattered throughout the U.S. These firearms could wind up in the hands of former convicts and criminals who may use the gun to commit future criminal actions.
Not only that, there is also the potential for the gun to be sold to a minor, without proper background checks a person below the legal age of owning a gun could purchase one at a gun show and use it similarly to the massacre that occurred at Columbine (Vail, 2009). Based on these situations it becomes evident that there is a definite need to institute proper background checks in gun show sales to prevent guns from winding up in the hands of the wrong type of people. Not only that, legislation in the 33 states that allow private sellers to sell guns without background checks must be changed to such an extent that the loophole must be closed requiring all private sellers to undergo proper licensing and training before being allowed to sell firearms to the general public.
It has already been shown by various studies that it is the attitude of private sellers towards reckless selling that promotes the proliferation of handguns in various cases involving violent crime in the U.S. As such what is needed in such cases is either proper training to prevent sales to people who are deemed “high risk” or sufficient government legislation imposing punishments on sellers who have been found in connection with irresponsible selling behavior that resulted in a violent crime.
Restricting the Sale of Military Grade Weapons
One of the most baffling aspects of gun sales within the U.S. is the sale of military grade weapons to the general public, from M16 rifles, AK-47’s, M-15’S to an assortment of other military grade weaponry (The Way of the Gun, 2007). While it may be true that the U.S. Constitution does indicate a right for people to defend themselves by owning weapons there is little conceivable need to own military grade weaponry. Such weapons can even be bought in select gun shops and gun shows around the country with live ammunition included in the sale of weapon. Yet in terms of actual safety a smaller range of firearms would be just as good and not as potentially destructive to the general population (The Way of the Gun, 2007).
Various cases involving several police departments scattered throughout the U.S. have shown a rise in criminal activity that utilizes military grade hardware bought from various gun shops. The problem with such weapons being on the street is the fact that the high caliber rounds can do a lot more damage compared to smaller types of firearms. The bulletproof vests issued by the police can only stop smaller caliber rounds however in the case of military grade weaponry their vests are next to useless.
There has been a worrying trend wherein more officers within the U.S. are killed today by higher caliber rounds as compared to a decade ago due to the proliferation of military grade hardware that can be bought from various gun shops and gun shows. Based on this it can be seen that the sale of military grade weapons to the general public is not only overkill in terms of having the right to defend oneself but it presents a problem for law enforcement officials since they may have to deal with an increasingly large proliferation of criminals utilizing high caliber rounds. As such new legislation must be enacted that focuses on preventing such weapons from being sold and reaching the streets to both prevent civilian and police deaths.
Conclusion
Based on the findings of this paper it can be seen that the problem with gun violence in the U.S. can be directly related to failings within its legislative system that neglects to implement any solid methods of prevention that can stop the proliferation of firearms within the U.S. population. The reason behind this lies with the fact that lobbyists for the firearms industry prevent the creation of any effective legislative measure aimed at reducing the amount of firearms currently in the country.
This is reflected in the fact that not only do 33 states within the U.S. allow the sale of firearms without background checks through private sellers but they allow the sale of multiple weapons to the same person. This shows an overly reckless attitude towards the sale of firearms which contributes to the growing level of firearm related violence in the country. What must be done to effectively reduce the level of gun violence within the U.S. is to implement measures to reduce the amount of firearms allotted to the general public. This can come in the form of limiting the types of firearms sold to small semi-automatic pistols rather than the military grade firearms seen in a variety of gun shops.
Another possible method of prevention is to ensure that proper legislation is implemented in background checks without any loopholes in the process as well as stricter ownership protocols to ensure that the wrong kind of people doesn’t have access to deadly weaponry. It is expected that should such measures be implemented the degree of firearm related deaths within the country should go down.
References
Cole, T. B. (2008). Firearms Sales via “Gun Show Loophole” Thwart Efforts to Reduce Gun Violence. JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association, 300(6), 640-641.
Roth, R. (2002). Counting Guns. Social Science History, 26(4), 699.
The Way of the Gun. (2007). Atlantic Monthly (10727825), 300(3), 34.
Vail, K. (2009). Columbine: 10 Years Later. American School Board Journal, 196(5), 16.
Violence. (2005). FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, 74(10), 21.
Wheeler III, S. C. (2001). Gun Violence and Fundamental Rights. Criminal Justice Ethics, 20(1), 19.
Where do the guns come from? (2009). New York Amsterdam News, 100(51), 12.