Stricter Gun Laws in the United States of America

The issue on gun control in America is one of the most divisive issues in the American

society. On the one are those who believe that the right to bear arms as enshrined in the Second

Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America should be protected and upheld

by the state. Such tradition may be the sole strongest explanation to the relatively loose gun

policies in the U.S. On the other hand, people insist that the U.S. government should tighten gun

control on all of the States in the interest of public safety. Indeed, America remains the one

developed country with highest cases of mass shooting and, consequently, of gun-related

fatalities every year, surpassing a lot of low-income country [ CITATION Aiz19 \l 1033 ].

This paper argues for two things. First, tightening the gun control in the United States is a

crucial and integral step in lessening and mitigating gun violence that has victimized innocent

civilians and enabled criminals to execute murder by the thousands. Second, this paper argues

that the Second Amendment of the American Constitution which is considered by anti-gun

control groups as their main justification on continued gun ownership is taken in the wrong

context. But assuming without conceding that ownership of firearm is an enshrined constitutional

right, the value of the lives of innocent Americans far outweigh the value of the Second

Amendment.

On the first argument, stricter gun laws, which entails tedious and stern demand of

requirements, permits, accreditation, and exams before one can be allowed to own fire arms, are

integral in the reduction of gun violent incidents and casualties. As mentioned above, America

ranks high in the number of gun violence among rich countries. Studies show that the most

important determinants in the repeated occurrence of mass shootings and gun violence are not

mental health problems or increased consumption of media with violent content like video games
and action movies. Rather, everything boils down to policy. There is an established link between

stricter background checks and qualification for gun ownership, home secure lock requirements

among others, and dramatic decline in gun-related deaths [ CITATION Woo19 \l 1033 ]. Different

studies point to this conclusion. For example, a 2019 study inferred that individuals who own or

have access to firearms are 18 times more likely to threaten someone with gun violence

[ CITATION LuY19 \l 1033 ]. Aside from gun violence inflicted to others, access to guns also make

more suicides possible. According to the Center for Disease Control, a whopping 60% of gun

related mortality is suicide. In Israel, prohibiting soldiers from bringing their service firearm at

home reduced suicide by 40%[ CITATION Woo19 \l 1033 ]. Conversely, when the U.S. congress

lifted the ban on assault weapons, gun massacres shot up by 239%. In the face of overwhelming

evidence, the U.S. government should accept that the only way to obliterate gun violence is

through stricter gun laws.

Second, pro-gun people’s relentless invocation of their right to bear arm as enshrined in

the American Constitution is a misunderstanding of what that particular constitutional provision

entails. Certainly, the Second Amendment does not preclude stricter gun control. As a matter of

fact, the U.S. Supreme Court has, time and time again, ruled that that particular amendment does

not prohibit enactment of laws that prohibit gun possession for the mentally deranged, freely

carrying of guns in places like schools and government buildings, and imposition of meticulous

conditions in the qualifications on commercial sale of arms [ CITATION Epp18 \l 1033 ]. Thus, the

constitution cannot be used as an excuse for the continued unregulated sale and purchase of

firearms in the United States.

 But assuming without conceding that the Second Amendment protects such “right”, the

ever increasing death toll because of gun violence should supersede the right to bear arms

because human life remains to be the greatest value there is.

References
Aizenman, N., & Silver, M. (2019, August 5). How the U.S. compares with other countries in
deaths from gun violence. Retrieved from NPR:
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2019/08/05/743579605/how-the-u-s-
compares-to-other-countries-in-deaths-from-gun-violence
Epps, G. (2018, March 8). The Second Amendment does not transcent all others. Retrieved from
The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/03/second-
amendment-text-context/555101/
Lu, Y., & Temple, J. (2019). Dangerous weapons or dangerous people? The temporal
associations between gun violence and mental health. Preventive Medicine, 1-6.
Woodward, A. (2019, August 6). Gun control really works. Science has shown time and again
that it can prevent mass shootings and save lives. Retrieved from Business Insider:
https://www.businessinsider.com/gun-control-research-how-policies-can-reduce-
deaths-2019-8