Gun control is a collection of legislations that regulate the manufacture, sale, and ownership of firearms by civilians in the United States. Gun control has been a controversial topic for a very long time, with various opinions coming up every time on how best the country should frame and execute this law. Media publications, political leaders, and members of the general public have countlessly voiced their opinions on gun control. Much of the debate on gun control is always triggered by the incidences of mass shootings that claim the lives of innocent Americans every now and again. Every time there is an incident of mass shooting, the debate on gun control comes up with a substantial amount of people pointing the finger at the government and gun control legislation. Deliberations have been made among legislators and executive policymakers on whether or not the laws on firearms ownership and commerce ought to be amended. From a distance, a foreigner may see gun control as a direct law with no controversies whatsoever. Nonetheless, gun control offers a great dilemma among citizens and the government of the US. The discussion around gun control legislation is triggered by increasing technology and the specific security norms that people want to be embraced. Different people have a different opinion on gun ownership, the commerce of firearm, and use of guns. This creates two different sides of the society; the proponents and opponents of gun control. America’s founding fathers started this debate in a bid to guarantee liberty to its citizens and do so in a constitutional manner. Despite their good intentions for the American democracies and the well-being of the people, the controversies around gun control continue to haunt us to date. General America’s opinion on gun ownership is characterized by many ironies, honest, and dishonest stories, among others.
Armed Population
The debate on gun ownership has become a common controversy today, with its roots still unknown. According to Powell (2016), The United States of America has the world’s most armed civilian population. There are security experts who believe that the country has failed in allowing citizens the noble right to own guns. Instead, it has created an armed society where almost everyone has access to a firearm. It is not very easy to achieve a fearless and passable society in such an environment as the United States. This is because of the high rate of gun ownership, which increases fear among citizens. The right to own and keep guns is a provision of the American constitution. Citizens only have to meet some conditions before becoming eligible to holding and keeping a firearm. Repealing amendments in the United States may not be easy in the near future, and thus, the law may stand. This is different from other countries like the United Kingdom, where amending such laws is easier. Cornell & Cornell (2018) assert that the second amendment is responsible for the increase in gun ownership among civilians. Similarly, the second amendment has introduced many more restrictions on gun ownership ranging from numerous background checks and lots of profile verifications. The gun industry now contributes close to $32 billion into the country’s economy, thanks to the Second Amendment. Moreover, America even conducts shooting sports, which involves firearms. Unfortunately, the country continues to battle the increasing cases of deadly accidents arising from the civilian use of firearms, gun suicides, increased cases of robbery with violence, and the terrorist activities involving firearms among other negative implications. From this, an apparent dilemma exists due to the failure of the country to create an armed society full of noble characters. Standing on either side of the opinion for or against gun control tends to reduce the country’s chances of achieving this.
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The Second Amendment
The United States of America has a collective opinion on gun control, which is somewhat different from that of other countries, especially the westerners. To understand America’s position on gun control, one must understand the depth of the Second Amendment. It lays a set of laws that talks exclusively of gun ownership with a slight suggestion that it will not change soon. People must live with the fact that America is an armed society. This law provides that owning a firearm is a natural and fundamental right that is beyond violation (Zick 2018). The Second Amendment has its origins in the English common law. Nevertheless, several commonwealth countries do not have their gun laws inclined towards the suggestions of the Second Amendment. This is different in the US, where the law perceives citizens as dupes of slavery. However, other countries like Australia deprive their citizens of the privileges of gun ownership. These provisions are however, different from the reality from the American Revolution, which proposed rights and liberty of the people to become from the people who only submit to a government where it is necessary. The proponents of the American Revolution believed that the governments acted as threats and thus the need by the people to protect themselves. The Second Amendment, therefore, gave hope of protection and tabling resistance to possible repression from the government. From this, it is clear that gun ownership is partly propelled by the lack of trust by the citizens on the government. An excellent dilemma exists here such that the same government that provides for gun ownership regulations has become the reason for people’s need to arm themselves. While other people think that gun ownership in America is coiled around security from criminals, hunting, and sports, a substantial section of Americans own guns as a result of distrust on the government. Apart from that, most proponents of gun ownership argue based on the freedoms protected by the Second Amendment. They say that the right to gun ownership protects the fundamental freedom of Americans and, thus, ought to be preserved. The Second Amendment is also pegged on the foundation of American democracy, something that is admired by many other countries. This makes it difficult for gun ownership opponents to lodge their arguments. It is, therefore, a difficult argument to make to either stand on the side against or for gun ownership. Gun ownership rights are majorly about the freedoms of the people.
Protection from Government threat
Some proponents of gun ownership hold the hide their arguments behind freedom, yet they do it for distrust with the government. However, a philosophical problem exists such that it is close to impossible for ordinary citizens to match the government investment in firearms. Resisting the government adequately would require an equal force from the people who own guns, something which is not achievable since the government invests very heavily in firearms. Ironically, using force to disarm civilians is difficult and had failed in 1791. Edmund Burke’s opinion suggested that using an armed disciplined body is against the quest for liberty to the people (Smith 2014). This opinion reflects the fact that the right to own guns by the people is used as a guarantee of freedom. To further prove this thought, the government has laid many limitations on purchase and ownership of a firearm. For example, persons with criminal records and those with mental problems are not eligible to own guns. Nevertheless, for a very long time, there has been reported on the civilian use of a firearm against the government. This makes the common argument of owning a firearm to protect oneself against the government irrelevant. To the contrary, this notion is acting as a hindrance to bringing along further controls on certain types of firearms. There are specific types of guns that have been used by criminals in executing high profile crimes like mass shootings. One can say that such weapons are not necessary for civilian use because civilians only keep guns for self-defense. Unfortunately, the notion of bearing guns in protection from the government stays and hinders further controls that would otherwise help the government maintain an armed and secure society. In as much as people do not use guns against the governments, proponents support this argument.
Politics of Gun Control
Politics is another cause of dilemma on the gun control controversy. Constitutional amendments are very vital in a democratic set up such as the United States. In a healthy democracy, a controversial topic attracts multiple opinions, which are eventually merged and put into law. Unfortunately, on the gun control debate, America has seemingly failed to engage in a popular talk and include some amendments into the gun control law. The gun lobby in the United States has continuously frustrated efforts of making amendments to gun control laws. Their tactics include threatening politicians who bring up the gun debate to discourage them and make them drop any proposed amendments on the gun control laws. According to Gabor (2016), politicians in the gun lobby invest in protecting the gun control laws and thus fail to listen to any point on opponents of gun ownership. They spend extraordinary amounts of money to bring down any arguments against gun ownership in incidences that are regarded to be beyond ordinary politics. Another group of politicians against gun ownership also engage in politics to sabotage any political argument from the proponents of gun ownership. These two groups of politicians frequently engage in heated exchanges after mass shootings in what looks like blaming each other for such incidents. In addition to that, some bias from the media also derails the opinions of the proponents of gun control. These heated debates never bear much fruits or help the citizens. While other democracies may envy America for their gun ownership laws, intense politics on the same creates a lot of dilemmas on the gun control debate. This is because America never gets any legislative solutions to gun control problems that arise in the way. Politics stands in the way for legislation on gun control, which would otherwise streamline existing loopholes on the gun control laws. Despite the greatness and the high level of democracy that America is known for, its political environments do not favor the gun control talk.
Gun Violence
America suffers from constant cases of violence caused by a firearm. Gun ownership is an old law in America, and therefore, people have held guns for a very long period. This implies that several firearms are at the disposal of civilians, making it almost difficult for the government to control gun ownership (Planty & Truman, 2013). There are guns that were sold to civilians over one hundred years ago and have since become difficult for the government to trace. Additionally, rapid technological advancements have brought about more lethal and deadly firearms, which end up in the wrong hands. There are also lots of illegal and unregistered guns that find their ways into the markets, increasing the difficulty in the government’s ability to control gun ownership. Most people outside America imagine a swift control system where all firearms are registered and registered whenever they are destroyed and due for disposal. Nevertheless, this is not true because the figures of guns owned by the public are uncontrollable. Lack of effective control is the reason behind increased cases of mass shootings, robberies, and general misuse of guns. This is what experts in this field call “guns in the wrong hands.” The United States government has made countless efforts to ensuring firearm accountability. It is believed that the mother of civil disobedience and guns getting into the hands of criminals is fueled by a poor gun accountability system (Webster et al., 2013). The dilemma here arises that the government struggles to track and locate all firearms in the hands of civilians, something that may prompt them to repeal the gun ownership laws. It is therefore evident from this that the law is not enjoyable to the government as people from other countries may think.
Conclusion
In summary, a significant dilemma characterizes the topic of gun control. Indeed, it becomes a difficult choice for one to make whether to support or oppose gun control laws. The focal point of this talk is on gun ownership by civilians. Various issues coil around gun control that increases the dilemma and the problem with gun control. Politics, the Second Amendment, and the American Revolution, among other issues, tend to add on the current dilemma on gun control and gun ownership. While other people from other democracies may see it as a fancy law to have, the laws allowing gun ownership come along with several other issues. Americans ought to solve the dilemma of gun control. It is under the responsibility of the gun lobbies from either side, the government, and the general public to solve the dilemma and put the matter to rest.
References
Cornell, S., & Cornell, E. (2018). The Second Amendment and Firearms Regulation: A Venerable Tradition Regulating Liberty While Securing Public Safety.
Gabor, T. (2016). America’s gun violence problem. In Confronting gun violence in America (pp. 3-19). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Planty, M., & Truman, J. L. (2013). Firearm Violence, 1993-2011 . Washington, DC: US Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Powell, T. (2016). Gun Lust: An Investigation into America's Sordid Gun Addiction. International Critical Thought , 6 (1), 119-140.
Smith, A. (2014). America's gun control dilemma: The enlightenment meets Frankenstein's monster. Quadrant, 58(1/2), 26.
Webster, D. W., Vernick, J. S., McGinty, E. E., & Alcorn, T. (2013). Preventing the diversion of guns to criminals through effective firearm sales laws (pp. 109-122). Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Zick, T. (2018). The Second Amendment as a Fundamental Right. Hastings Const. LQ, 46, 621.
