Guns In the United States

The mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas is just the latest in a long series of senseless killings by deranged individuals in the United States.  This incident follows on the heels of a racially motivated murder spree in Buffalo, New York.  In both cases, the victims were random.  They were in the wrong place at the wrong time. 

These incidents unleashed a barrage of political statements from both the left and right.  The left decries the lack of gun control laws that might restrict the wrong people from getting a gun legally, such as sales over the internet and "straw purchases."  Liberals point to a specific rifle called the AR-15 as the "weapon of choice" for mass murderers.  This type of gun was banned in 1994 by the federal government, but only for 10 years.  It has been legal to buy an AR-15 style weapon for many years now, and there are millions of them in circulation across the United States.

Conservatives are against any new gun restrictions. They are afraid that if any gun legislation is enacted, it will be a "slippery slope" that will eventually cause the confiscation of all of their guns by the government.

Gun ownership in the United States is rooted in the Second Amendment of the Constitution.  It 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.”There has been some significant legislation passed by the federal government over the years.  The Gun Control Act of 1968 prohibits individuals under eighteen years of age, convicted criminals, the mentally disabled, dishonorably discharged military personnel, and others from purchasing firearms. In 1993, the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act mandated background checks for all unlicensed individuals purchasing a firearm from a federally authorized dealer.

But, there are loopholes in these broad laws that are exploited every day.  Gun shows are venues that enable individuals that should not be able to buy a gun to do so, with minimal background checks or in some cases none at all. Untraceable "ghost guns" are sold on the Internet without any federal regulations whatsoever. 

A poll published by the New York Times a couple of years ago shed some light on people's feelings about enacting new gun control laws.  The poll shows that a vast majority of people want background checks for all gun buyers.  Despite that, conservatives continue to block such legislation both at the federal and state levels.Eighty-nine percent of those polled would like to prevent the mentally ill from buying a gun.  That means that 11% of those polled do not mind if the mentally ill are able to purchase a gun.  How does that make sense?

The next figure is almost as perplexing.  Over 85% of those polled would prevent convicted felons from purchasing a gun.  That means 15% are in favor of selling guns to convicted felons!  Again, hard to fathom.

So, as you can see, this intractable issue will not be resolved anytime soon. In the meantime, we wait for the next mass casualty event, and send our "thoughts and prayers" to the families of the victims.