By Melissa KoenigSPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
So far in 2015, there have been 10,175 deaths and 20,682 people injured as the result of gun violence in the United States. There have been 266 mass shootings since the year began. If this doesn’t scare you, it should. This doesn’t happen in other countries. In 2012, the most recent year there is data from, the rate of gun murders in the United States is 30 times higher than that of the United Kingdom.
There is a history of shootings in the United Kingdom. However, the U.K. took the appropriate responses and limited who can have what type of guns. In August 1987, a lone gunman armed with two semi-automatic rifles went on a six-hour shooting spree, killing 17 people and himself. In response, Parliament passed the Firearms (Amendment) Act, which expanded the list of banned weapons. In another incident in Scotland in 1996, a middle-aged man shot and killed 16 schoolchildren.
In response, the Government of the United Kingdom created a temporary gun buyback program, which is credited with taking tens of thousands of illegal guns out of circulation. Finally, guns must be kept in locked boxes bolted to the floor and must be up for inspection. Now, whenever a gun-related crime is committed in the U.K., it can be traced back to the less than 1,000 legal guns.
Although the United States has faced similar mass shootings that have killed more people, Americans still do not want to limit their access to guns. They believe that guns are useful to defend themselves; however, in high-intensity situations, people are not likely to think about pulling out their gun. In one study at a battered women’s center, while 70 percent of women were threatened by a gun. By comparison only seven percent of women were able to use a gun in self-defense.
The idea that gun control won’t work because criminals will still get guns is also problematic. The deadliest shooting in recent history, the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, was done by a man with a history of behavioral problems. Yet, he was able to use his mother’s rifle to kill 20 innocent schoolchildren. One would think that a mother who knew her son was obsessed with school shootings would hide her gun better, but clearly this was not the case. This gun was therefore obtained legally.
In many other cases, someone is just able to go to a store to buy a gun without any questions asked. For example, one can buy a gun from a gun show without having to go through the process of determining if he or she has a criminal history or has had to see a psychiatrist about homicidal thoughts. I think we need to remember that these are deadly weapons and we should not just let anybody have the ability to kill people.
Finally, the Second Amendment states that we should have “a well-regulated militia.” A militia usually implies a group of people with weapons fighting for a common cause. It does not, therefore, mean one guy who wants to have a gun for protection or for sport. Moreover, when the Second Amendment was written, a gun was not as deadly and did not always shoot straight. Therefore, I think the Founding Fathers would be appalled by how many innocent people are dying in the name of protection and a “well-regulated militia.”
Melissa Koenig is the Vice President of the Democrats of Hofstra University.
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