Sophie Li ‘26
The Second Amendment, written in 1791, gives the citizens of America the right to bear arms. Although important, this amendment and what it has entailed has caused many citizens in recent years to not just bear, but misuse firearms. Today, the news displays a grim portrait of the state of gun control in America and raises many questions. Are gun restrictions enough? How can current gun laws be improved? Would more restrictive or less restrictive gun laws be more effective? These are the questions that plague Americans today, but the country has also been grappling with them throughout its history.
Passed in 1934, almost 150 years after the Second Amendment, the first federal gun law in America was the National Firearms Act. Following the increased criminal activities from gangs during prohibition, President Franklin D. Roosevelt sought to limit the number of guns that were being purchased through measures such as taxing gun sellers and requiring paperwork from customers. Many other laws followed suit, such as the Federal Firearms Act in 1938, which sought to track the sales of guns, as well as the Firearms Owners’ Protection Act in 1986, which revised some of the restrictions that were placed upon gun owners in previous laws. There are hundreds of both federal and local gun laws around the U.S. today, each with varying factors such as whether owners are required to carry a license or not. However, as the rate of gun violence continues to grow, so does the confusion and uneasiness about gun laws.
A key component of determining how to prevent gun violence is getting to the root cause of the problem. When interviewed, many students emphasized that they believe the ease of buying a gun is a major problem. “There’s too much access to guns,” said sophomore Sarah Fee. “Buying a gun shouldn’t be something like buying a candy bar; it has to be a procedure because it’s a lethal weapon.”
Many community members also stated that the ease of buying a gun is due to the lack of proper background checks. According to sophomore Nuri Park, “A lot of times people don’t look into the things that they should be, like mental illnesses.”
Although background checks are required by federal law, this requirement is often rendered useless as many citizens bypass background checks via loopholes, making the purchasing of firearms a much simpler process.
The wording of a state’s currently implemented laws also plays a major role in the amount of enforcement and the amount of potential loopholes which are created.
An example of this is the boyfriend loophole. Although some states place firearms restrictions on those who have committed domestic violence, many have bypassed this restriction by using the definition of a “boyfriend” (i.e a person who lives with, had a child with, or has married the person who they have abused) to their advantage, claiming that they do not fit the criteria and are therefore eligible to purchase a firearm.
While many governments, such as New York under Governor Hochul, have sought to create stricter gun laws, many groups and organizations have fought against the restrictions by stating the laws are unconstitutional due to the Second Amendment.
An example of this is in the NYSRPA (New York State Rifle & Pistol Association) v. Bruen case, in which a lawsuit from the NYSRPA resulted in a 6-3 ruling by the Supreme Court. They ruled that an individual does not need to have a special situation in order to obtain a concealed carry license.
History teacher Mr. Gill has advocated for more requirements for proper storage of guns. According to him, these procedures “would limit by itself many of the different mass shootings because children wouldn’t be able to take their parents’ guns.” This issue has arisen in some recent mass shootings such as the Oxford High shooting in Michigan in 2021.
In addition, many students also advocate for stronger restrictions and checks on who buys guns. Sophomore Kourtney Bailey said, “The government should be more restrictive on who they allow to have guns.”
“Things like mental health and age should go into it for our society as a whole to be safer,” said Bailey.
Regardless of the type and focus of gun law change, there is a resounding cry for change all around the country. Without a doubt, the current state is not enough, and without change, the cycle of violence will only perpetually continue.
Photograph by AeroFennec on Flickr.png