In the United States, there is a current gun problem. Whether it be from mass shootings or even a spike in the suicide rate, guns, if placed in the wrong hands, can be detrimental to an individual or society. According to Pew Research Center, 39,773 individuals died in 2017 at the hands of a gun. From 2014-2017, there was a thirty-two percent increase in gun-related deaths. Mass Shooting Reporter documented that in August 2019, three hundred and forty-six individuals were affected by gun violence, with ninety-six of them dying from their wounds.
After analyzing all the statistical data that has been supplied, it is easy for everyone to agree that there is a problem in the United States that must be addressed. However that may be true, there is no true solution to the crisis at hand. Many solutions–or potential solutions–have been suggested, there is no plausible way to implement them to prevent guns from landing in the wrong hands.
A possible solution I have heard many discuss is the banning of all guns. While it is highly discussed, it would be very difficult to implement; it would never actually be passed because it infringes on an individual’s Second Amendment right.
When looking at court rulings, it was decided in District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) that when interpreting the Second Amendment, it should “guarantee an individual right to possess and carry weapons in case of confrontation”. Banning handguns that are used for protection purposes, as stated in the opinion from the court, is unconstitutional. In McDonald v. City of Chicago (2010), it ruled that the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms is applicable on the state level, not federal. This means that the federal government cannot implement policies to ban guns in all states, for it has to be a state-by-state ban.
Furthermore, banning guns would decrease the amount of death that has been seen in the United States. In a study conducted by Applied Economics Letters, it was found that in states where there were restrictions on the carrying of concealed weapons, there were higher gun-related murder rates than in states that did not have restrictions. In Chicago, there are roughly four thousand deaths from gun violence per year, despite the fact that Illinois is one of the strictest states on gun laws.
While banning all guns is not a proper solution, the correct one cannot be put forward either. People will always end up finding a way to possess a firearm. At the end of the day, even if every protective measure is implemented, one cannot legislate morality.
It is true that there is no simple solution to America’s gun problems. Banning guns is not only not feasible, it is unconstitituional and therefore impossible. The only way to accomplish that would be a constitutional amendment, and there simply isn’t enough support in America for that. I think that point is often ignored or not mentioned enough. There is a good chunk of America that wants guns. There is also a good chunk that wants nothing to do with them. As a result, there is no solution that will make everyone happy. There isn’t even a solution that would make most people happy. In my opinion, looser restrictions on hand guns and other non-assault weapons would provide gun violence victims the ability to defend themselves. That would drive down crime rates in cities afflicted by gun violence. Common sense restrictions should be in place, some of the more excessive ones should not. Also, since most gun crimes are committed with an illegaly-obtained firearm, perhaps it is more important to focus on the black market than law-abiding Americans attempting to obtain the mechanisms they believe they need to defend themselves.
I also agree that there isn’t a good solution to gun violence in America. But I think we can curb the statistics by addressing the issues that lead to gun violence, like gangs, mental instability, addiction, abuse, etc.. A ban on all guns wouldn’t solve many issues, because if an individual has an intent to harm or kill someone, they will simply do that with another weapon (like a knife, a blunt object, a car, etc.). Therefore, focusing on solutions to the gateways of gun violence will be effective in reducing injury/death as a whole from a variety of weapons.