Most Americans agree on one thing — gun
violence
is a problem. According to one survey
it's a pretty huge majority
with only 6% who say it's not a
problem at all.
The question of how to tackle gun
violence is where there's debate
and at the heart of that debate is gun
control and whether more laws are needed.
But before we get into that let's debunk
the myth that gun control
is anything new.
In the 1930s they banned machine guns in
response to gangs.
In the late '60s after the assassination
of President JFK
the Gun Control Act came in. It imposed
regulations on the firearms industry
and came up with a list of people who
could be denied the sale of guns.
And in the '90s President Clinton's Crime
Bill introduced a federal ban on assault
weapons but that expired 10 years later.
And that goes back to the constitution.
For Americans
being able to own a gun is a basic right
up there with free speech.
The Second Amendment says "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."
So what does that mean? Well, for a couple
of hundred years the understanding
focused on that mention of a militia.
It's really the idea that the states
would serve as a check
against a possible tyrannical government.
Makes sense seeing as it was written
after the War of Independence.
And that idea still persists today but
in 2008 there was a landmark Supreme
Court decision that focused on the
second half.
It's known as the Heller case. The court
ruled that a ban on handguns in the
district of Columbia was
unconstitutional
and for the first time affirmed the
right for individuals to keep arms for
self-defence
in the home.
And that shift in thinking among
Americans started happening
well before 2008.
The National Rifle
Association —
the US's main gun rights advocacy group —
has also played a big part in that.
In pushing the idea that guns are needed
for self-defence.
We can't get away from the fact that
this is all super political
and we see that when it comes to support
for gun laws.
Overall more than half of Americans
favour stricter laws
but when you break that down more than
80% of Democrats support more gun
control compared to just
20% of Republicans.
So what do US gun laws look like?
Well, that depends on where you live.
There are federal laws that apply
across the whole country that for
instance ban convicted felons, people
with
mental illness or kids under 18 from
buying guns.
But then there are state laws and each
state has a lot of leeway to enforce
their own regulations
and they differ pretty wildly.
In Massachusetts, a
strongly Democratic state,
you need a police permit and a
background check to buy a gun.
While Republican-controlled Texas
recently passed a law allowing people to
carry concealed handguns without any
permit.
So now we've got a Democrat in the White
House and President Biden has declared
gun violence a public health epidemic.
His plans to tackle it include more
money for community programmes to address
some of the root causes of gun violence.
On the legal side Biden wants to toughen
up gun laws
and make sure the ones that already
exist are actually applied —
including zero tolerance for rogue gun
dealers.
He also wants to tighten the rules
on what are called ghost guns.
These are weapons sold in parts and
without a serial number so they can't be
traced.
Another big thing Biden wants to
do
is bring back the ban on assault weapons.
Guns like the semi-automatic AR-15 rifle.
According to a Newsweek investigation
this type of gun was used in more than a
quarter of the last
80 mass shootings. Like this year's
attack in a supermarket in Boulder,
Colorado,
the Orlando nightclub shooting in 2016
and at Sandy Hook Elementary School,
where 20 children and six teachers were
killed in 2012.
But can he do it? As Democrats push for
more gun control there are plenty of
voters
and politicians in Congress who say guns
just aren't the problem.
Now even though we always hear about how
America is so divided over guns
there's another way to look at it.
Guns aren't going away — that's a
non-starter in the US.
But if Americans can find that common
ground to look at policies they can
agree on
maybe that's where there's a chance of
saving lives.
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