https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/20/asia/new-zealand-christchurch-gun-ban-intl/index.html
On March 20, New Zealand's Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern announced that there will be a full ban on all military-styled automatic and semiautomatic weapons. This is due to the fact that the Christchurch Mosque shootings were performed using several military grade semi-automatic weapons. However, other weapons such as a lever-armed rifle and a shotgun were also found at the scene. Hence, many people who had previously owned these weapons legally will no longer be allowed to keep them in possession after this law. Gun owners will be able to return their guns immediately with a buyback scheme. This law reflects the measures that Australia took following their mass shooting in the 1996. With this introduction in Australia, gun suicides decreased to an average of 4.8% a year, and gun related murders decreased by an average of 5.5% per year. This law was welcomed by many in New Zealand following the attack. Lobbying group Federated Farmers issued a statement stating that the members would not welcome this law, but understand that it is necessary to keep the peace and will be the most practicable solution.
Many have called this a wake up call for American law makers. It only took one massacre and 72 hours in New Zealand for the government to change their gun laws drastically, virtually banning all military styled weapons to be kept in civilian hands. After all the events in recent years regarding gun violence in America, American lawmakers still cannot change their laws?
1. Do you think America can adopt the same laws New Zealand has just adopted, which had worked flawlessly in Australia?
2. Unlike New Zealand, it is evident that our gun laws are slow to change. What are some reasons that the gun laws in America cannot be overhauled similarly to New Zealand?
As long as Trump is in office, I doubt that America will be able to adopt the same laws as New Zealand so hastily. The main obstacles that America faces are the second amendment, gun rights groups, and people who believe restricting gun rights will not have a positive effect on society. I think Australia, as you stated, is good evidence that gun restriction actually does worker since gun suicides and gun murders have gone down. But the major issue is that even those numbers are so low (4.8%,5.5%) and people can still claim that gun restriction will hardly do anything significant. Additionally, even if guns were to be restricted, there will still be illegal supply and demand for them and even if the government stops a million people, it only takes one person to pull of this kind of massacre.
ReplyDeleteI don't think the US can pull something like the fast law change we saw in New Zealand because our population is larger and the actions of our government depend on the people. No large consensus, no quick change in law. It would take a huge idea shift for this to take place, and I don't see it happening. One reason for this is that American culture is steeped in violence and an inclination toward violent self defense. As long as the possibility of illegal firearm trade, home invasion, muggings, misuse of power, etc., are on the table, it will be extremely hard to pry americans away from their guns. Even if we do, I agree with what mark said. Thousands of untraced, illegally styles firearms jump out borders each day. The one mind it takes to commit something like this will circumvent law enforcement, like we've seen in England when a teen ordered an illegal firearm online and simply had it delivered.
ReplyDeleteI believe that American gun laws and the context of it are very different than the ones in New Zealand and Australia. Although there is potential for change, there are still gun lobbying groups pushing for Second Amendment rights. That is another reasons why American gun laws haven't changed much even after so many mass shootings - the Second Amendment. Even when Australia and New Zealand have gone to extents to change their own gun laws after several mass shootings, American gun laws are different and haven't changed much. Although I agree that American gun laws need to change in that semi-automatic guns have no use in civilian life, however, New Zealand and Australia don't have gun lobbying groups that push for "rights" in the Constitution.
ReplyDeleteGun laws or any laws, for that matter, in the U.S. will not follow the same process as laws in New Zealand. With our constitution being formed around balance between state and federal power and balance between the three branches of government, laws as controversial as gun laws rarely change due to the immense amount of gridlock and differing opinions throughout the country. Passing a federal law banning automatic weapons in the United States would be almost impossible, due to the power states hold to make their own decisions-as we see now as gun laws vary state to state. In addition, Congress is split being controlled by Democrats and Republicans, holding varying opinions on gun laws across the board, therefore gridlock would be impossible to avoid when changing gun laws.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I believe the ban in New Zealand can greatly help minimize gun violence, I just don't think that this would happen given the current political divide in legislation. There is no way that the Republican congressmen would agree to ban all automatic weapons. Moreover, I think that one major flaw in this ban is that the black market exists and guns will still flow through underground tunnels. A ban, especially in America, will not stop people from obtaining guns illegally. That being said, I think we should place much heavier background checks and there are plenty of bills that could decrease gun violence such as AB 392. This bill would hold law enforcement accountable any time they shoot a gun. If they kill a person, it will count as homicide unless someone was in direct harm or danger. Thus, I believe that these sorts of bill would be more realistic to implement than a complete ban on all automatic weapons
ReplyDeleteSome reasons why the US has not implemented any new regulations in regards for gun laws are that the NRA ad its supporters - making up a large population in the US - are strongly against inflicting upon their Constitutional right. The lobbying group in New Zealand, the Federated Farmers have stated their understanding of the law to protect and ensure the safety of citizens in New Zealand even though they were against the new law. Unlike the US, New Zealand is much smaller and gun use may be easier to regulate now that military-styled automatic and semiautomatic weapons have been banned for use. It appears that the Federated Farmers must not have a high influence on New Zealand government as the new ban seemed to pass easily and almost overnight.
ReplyDeleteSadly it was too late to prevent the shooting from happening, but I think this will be very good for New Zealand's future in order to prevent the problems guns create. In the United States, without any serious changes such as the overruling of Citizens United, there is not way that any common sense gun reform will be in place in the United States. We have seen some of the worst terrorist attacks by people with guns occur in the United States and nothing has changed. Thousands and thousand people die every in the United States because of gun violence and that has not changed the minds of law makers on bit. I see no change here in the future but applaud New Zealand for doing what is right for their people.
ReplyDeleteAs many students have stated in the comments above, New Zealand is setting a great example for how a nation should act after such a tragedy in terms of enacting laws to prevent such a tragedy from happening again, but it isn’t quite applicable to the United States. I wish that America could follow in New Zealand’s footsteps, but I also recognize that the debate in America is a lot more intense and among different circumstances than New Zealand. Our Constitution for example is a big difference in America because it protects the “right to bear arms.” This plus the long history and culture surrounding guns in our country prevents us from executing New Zealand’s laws in America. I also think that the fact that we have a lot more people in our country and a different type of government prevents us from passing effective gun laws like New Zealand.
ReplyDeleteReforming America's gun laws is much more challenging than it would be for most any other country simply because of how deeply ingrained guns are in American culture. Obviously, while not everyone sees guns to be as American as apple pie, enough people do so that they present a significant barrier to the possibility of any gun control legislation. Not only that, but the presence of large organizations, especially the NRA, who are committed to using money in order to ensure gun control reforms fail will succeed as long as they have the funds to do so. However, the most important factor as to why America continues to struggle with gun reforms is the fact that any limitation on gun rights can be interpreted as an infringement to personal freedom. With freedom and liberty as core tenants to American government, people can be reluctant to support any legislation that obviously restricts their individual freedoms as stated by the Bill of Rights.
ReplyDeleteI think it would be hard to get a similar bill passed in the United States. There are many people who support the right to bear arms as there are people who support banning of guns. In addition, I don't think our governments are even close to being similar. It is quite impressive how quickly a bill was passed in New Zealand, which makes me feel that it would be hard to replicate in the United States. Even if guns are banned, it is hard to say how effective the bill would even be. With so many people refusing to turn in their weapons, they can still be in circulation
ReplyDeleteConsidering the culture of America, I believe that it would be extremely hard to ban guns if at all possible. This debate is much more intense than other countries because it creates such a divide between parties and citizens. I don't think that America would be able to adopt this policy because of this. Are gun laws are slow to change because it is such a divided issue and I think the reason for changing policies is harder comes down to how different our government is compared to other countries like New Zealand.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that a similar bill will be passed in the United States due to that fact that many will continue to support the 2nd Amendment. People see gun laws and reforms as infringement on their freedoms given by the Constitution. I wish that the US would be able to follow in the footsteps of new Zealand and take action, but it is nearly impossible.
ReplyDeleteAlthough New Zealand should be commended for taking such fast and decisive actions against gun violence, the same solution cannot be applied to the United States. The United States has a much larger population, and crime rates are much higher. For these reasons, guns are a more integral part of the American life. Also, the second amendment and the NRA will prevent any legislation form being passed. Therefore, although I would support an anti gun law, it would not be a practical method.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it's very likely that similar laws New Zealand adopted will be adopted in America. The issue of gun control has always been very controversial, and the Second Amendment further complicates the debate. It's also true that there are more guns in the US than people, which makes the likeliness of adopting gun control laws like that of New Zealand even lower. Based on the statistics in the wake of Australia's gun control laws, the laws implemented there seem very effective. Despite this, there are many powerful lobbying groups for gun rights in the United States that are adamant against restricting guns even in the aftermath of numerous mass shootings. Unless something drastically changes the minds of Americans against guns, the "right to bear arms" will make laws similar to those of New Zealand's unlikely in the US.
ReplyDeleteI do not believe that America would be able to adopt the same laws as New Zealand, and even if they did, it would not have been an easy fight. This could be attributed to the fact that the Second Amendment, which protects one's right to bear arms, has been deeply ingrained in American culture and lives. However, I think we fail to realize that times are different now than before when the 2nd Amendment was enacted, where guns were essential to the survival of early Americans, so it's only reasonable that laws change as the time period changes. Another obstacle to making changes in current gun laws is the massive influence the NRA has over the government through their lobbying and monetary contributions.
ReplyDeleteI think that America would not be able to adopt the same laws as New Zealand because gun owners in America would challenge any such laws as unconstitutional. The only way such laws would be put in place is through a constitutional amednment; either the removal or changing of the 2nd Amendment. This process is practically impossible in the political landscape we live in today due to the polarized federal government and public.
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