Gun Control

Gun Control

V376 - Law and Public Policy

April 9, 2007

Gun control in the United States is a controversial issue that has caused much debate. Compared to other countries, the United States' laws that govern gun rights are virtually non-existent. Stemming from the traditional values of personal freedoms, Americans deeply believe in the rights given by the fathers of the constitution, and are generally opposed to changing these laws. There has been little legislation passed that controls citizens' rights to possess firearms, resulting in a country with about as many guns as citizens, and consequently, a high rate of firearm suicides and homicides. Despite the resistance to altering constitutional rights, the problems that surround the lack of gun control in the United States must be addressed.

The second amendment to the Constitution states: "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" (Alderman 349). This can be interpreted to have various meanings. Gun rights advocates view the second amendment as the right to possess any type of firearm or weapon. However, in the 1939 Supreme Court case United States v. Miller involving the transporting of an unlicensed sawed-off shotgun across state lines, the court ruled that such a weapon is not used in the "preservation of efficiency of a well regulated militia" and therefore not protected under the second amendment (Stratton). Other federal gun laws include the National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA), the Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA), the Firearm Owners' Protection Act of 1968, and the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993. The NFA placed a statutory excise tax on Title II weapons (including silencers, machine guns, rifles with a barrel length less than 16 inches, and shotguns with a barrel length of less than 18 inches) and also requires the registration of these weapons with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives ("National Firearms Act"). The GCA serves to regulate interstate commerce of firearms. The act prohibits interstate transfer of firearms except among licensed manufacturers, dealers, and importers. Shortly after the GCA was passed, the Firearm Owners' Protection Act was passed to revise the GCA. It banned the manufacturing, importing, and sale of all machine guns in the United States, but also protected the individuals' right to transport securely locked firearms and ammunition through states with strict gun laws when traveling to shooting sports events ("Firearm Owners Protection Act"). The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993 required purchases to wait up to five days in order for a background check to be completed before purchasing a handgun. However, this waiting period expired in 1998 when the National Instant Criminal Background Check System became available ("Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act").

Other than federal gun laws, many states have individual state gun laws. Of these, Vermont and Alaska have the most lenient laws, and Massachusetts has the strictest. In Vermont, a permit is not required to carry any firearm openly or concealed. In Massachusetts a license is required to purchase all firearms and ammunition, and the applicant must first pass a State approved firearm safety course ("Gun Laws in the United States (by state)). Indiana has few additional gun laws; however, the state does conduct background checks for handguns and requires a permit to carry concealed weapons. Registration of guns in Indiana is not required and as a result, solving gun-related crimes is more difficult (Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence).

With such relaxed gun laws, the United States has the highest percentage of households possessing firearms with 39%. An estimated 238 million to 276 million firearms are owned by civilians in the United States. This abundance of firearms results in an average of 30,000 gun-related deaths every year. In 2000, 28,663 lives were lost to guns. The majority of these deaths were suicides (numbering 16,586), followed by homicides (10,801). The remaining 1,276 deaths were unintentional shootings (The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence). Data collected in 2002 revealed that the United States has a staggeringly higher number of firearm homicide victims than other developed countries. There were only six victims of gun murder in New Zealand, ninety-six in Great Britain, 168 in Canada, and 331 in Germany. In the same period, there were 11,348 victims of gun murder in the United States (Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence). If gun laws in this country remain as lenient as they currently are, the United States will continue to suffer the unnecessary loss of tens of thousands of lives to gun violence.

Lenient gun laws also contribute to the issue of domestic abuse and violence