Source: Spencer Platt/Getty Images
In one of the largest grassroots efforts ever to combat the gun violence epidemic in the U.S., Everytown for Gun Safety among other gun control groups will be holding rallies in all 50 states this weekend. They will be demanding that the Senate pass universal background checks and a red flag measure targeting dangerous gun owners, which has already passed the House of Representatives. Then it would be up to President Trump to sign a bill and he has signaled support for expanding background checks on gun sales in the wake of mass shootings in El Paso, TX and Dayton, OH.
Discussion Questions
1. Do you see universal background checks and red flag measures as the right solution to the problem? Do we need even more than that or should we take a different approach?
2. Will specifically targeting Republican Senators who have opposed gun control reforms in the past be an effective strategy?
3. The National Rifle Association (NRA) has been a powerful interest group opposing gun control reforms. Can Everytown for Gun Safety use El Paso and Dayton to make meaningful change that the NRA has so far succeeded in blocking?
Source: Politico
Source: Politico
I believe that universal background checks and red flag measure are definitely taking the right steps to ensure a safer United States; however, I do not think that it would solve the issue entirely. According to the Harvard School of Public Health’s Injury Control Research Center, the reason for US gun violence is simply the number of guns that are in the hands of citizens. While the US accounts for less than 5% of the world's population, they are the owners of more than 40% of private firearms in the entire world. Moreover, there is a clear positive trend in the relationship between the number of guns in a state and the number of shootings in that particular state. Australia's gunbuy back program in 1996 has led to an evident decline gun-related deaths. Perhaps by limiting the amount of guns as well as types of guns people are allowed to have, we can work towards a safer future with less gun violence.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/10/2/16399418/us-gun-violence-statistics-maps-charts