The Parkland High school and the San Bernardino elementary school mass shootings have restirred an open political dispute over gun control laws. Advocates on both sides have been fighting on this issue since the birth of this nation. Many scholars have researched and questioned the obsession with guns that is rooted deepin and plagues American culture. Having an informed opinion on this issue requires an understanding of not only the history surrounding gun control in the United states but also an understanding on the tension and fear that manifested between white Americans and the ethnic “others”; meaning Native Americans and Black Americans. The tension today is as potent as ever with the rise of mass shootings; people do not feel safe. This paper discusses the role white guilt and racial tension in gun control laws and also argues for a ban on high capacity magazines and calls for the reduction in societal costs that is tied to gun violence.
Despite the fact that many Americans support stricter gun control laws, there are many that are fearful of this possibility. The most cited literature concerning gun control is the Second Amendment which states that “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed”, partisan divide is so deep on this issue that even the interpretation of this document differs (Spitzer, 2017). Gun ownership is an American tradition and is protected by this Amendment; creating more gun control laws violates the right to bear arm. During the 2008 decision on District of Columbia v. Heller, the Supreme court gave a new interpretation to the Second Amendment (Cramer, 2016). Justice Antonin Scalia stated during this time the Second Amendment “protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home” (Cramer, 2016). Other rulings such as the McDonald v City of Chicago and the Nunn v State (Georgia) also ruled in favor of the interpretation that individual right to carry arm is protected under the Second Amendment. Despite these arguments many people on the other fence disagree with interpretation and believe that it was strictly designed to protect the rights of the militias to bear arm not the individual. Another argument against gun control, is that those types of laws do not decrease gun crime rate, in fact many people argue that owning a gun reduces the incidences of crime. According to the Daily Beast the Clinton ban on assault rifles and other types of guns from 1994 to 2003 has had little effect on gun violence (Daily Beast, 2016). Many people feel that having a gun at home makes them safe and whether that’s true or not, it is a strongly held belief that according to the Second Amendment, they have a right to act on those feelings and own a gun. People also believe that criminals will always find ways to guns but making it harder should be the objective of our government in order to keep the American people safe from gun violence. These arguments are all based on perspective and feelings that are connected to this country’s long history with violence. Moving passed these fears is necessary to reduce the mass shootings occurring today in America.
Conservative advocates that fight against gun control, such as the National Rifle Association (NRA), do not trust the elected official of this country and the government itself, which is harmful to this country’s future gun violence reduction. They feel the need to have arms to protect themselves against their own society/government if needed; these feelings need to be reduced in order to have balanced gun control laws. This fearful perception of gun control Americans have can be tied back to not only frontier expansion but further back to the revolution and colonial history; which includes the adaptation of the Second Amendment. Guns has always been common in American Colonies for the purpose of hunting and protecting oneself; it then later served as useful weapons in the war for independence (Waugaman, 2016). For the sake of independence and colonial power, gun laws emerged that then dictated that all head of household, which included women, have to own a gun and that men must be ready to join the militia by carrying firearms on their person (Waugaman, 2016). These laws were put in place to protect against and aid in the destruction Native Americans during the 1600s (Waugaman, 2016). More laws were also put in place to oppress slaves that the white Americans of that time were suspicious and afraid of during the 1700s through the 1800s (Waugaman, 2016). It can be argued that the brutal shootings of African American today at the hands of police is related to this same fear. Gun restriction laws were also common during colonial America, for instance, there were bans on the sale of guns to Native American and complete ban of ownership of guns for indentured servants and slaves. The history of gun control and the mass production of guns in the United states can be further discussed beyond the first centuries of this country. The truth is that tension continued to grow in the United states, from the assassinations of Presidents and prominent figures to WW1/WW2 and the great depression (Filindra & Kaplan, 2016). These facts are what differentiate us from our neighboring country, Canada. Despite our cultures being so similar, Canada does not have a history of battling for independence from Great Britain and therefore not historically suspicious of government, allowed their slaves to be educated and not treated like monsters, did not have a civil war to free slaves and finally, had a very different relationship with Native Americans. Canada therefore does not have the same fears about the people in their society as America does (Waugaman,2016). Today not enough data is collected on how minorities feel about gun control and other political issues while having more than enough data on how white Americans feel, this is another way to silence people (Filindra & Kaplan, 2016). People in America need to heal from the internalized trauma that they hold from this country’s history in order to have better gun control laws that will reduce the amount of guns on the streets of America and therefore reduce crime.
Mass shootings are on the rise so therefore high capacity magazines should be banned in order to reduce the number of mass shootings occurring in this country. Mass shootings, whether by gang violence, terrorism or isolated incidence, affect the black community the most. An analysis of 358 shootings found that three-fourth of the victims were African American (Colvin, 2014). It was also shown that most of these shootings have one thing in common for sure and that is high capacity magazines. This characteristic of guns allows a killer to go on a killing spree because it gives him or her more ammunition. To decrease racial tension and to protect their black citizens, the government should ban high capacity magazines and make it harder for criminals to commit crime.
Stricter gun control laws will help reduce gun deaths whether it’s from a homicide or suicide and therefore the societal costs. Gun death is the number one method for homicides and suicides (Cramer, 2006). Mandatory safety features should be a gun control law that benefits everyone because it will reduce the number of accidental deaths, including the death of children. Mandatory education on guns should also be a feature of gun control law because it will also reduce the amount of accidental death. The American people do not like to be constricted by the law but the truth is that countries with these types of laws such as Australia have lower gun homicide and suicide rates (Waugaman, 2016).
Gun control laws benefits everyone in the country and having fears of the government or an unseen enemy cripples the people from moving forward into a better future. Gun control laws may help reduce the racial tension in the country. It may help people feel safe in time, because the truth is, America has never really had strict gun control laws.