Gun Control, Group Blog Post #2

Luis Gallego
Julia Bruneau
Micheal Grava
Kyle Broderick

Gun Control

The individual interest in gun ownership varies greatly among our society. Individuals are interested in owning guns for self-defense, recreation, and hunting. In the case of self-defense, individuals want to be able to protect individual life and property. This has been in the American culture since the birth of the nation. For recreation, individuals buy guns to compete in shooting events that test an individuals ability with a gun. Hunting is more of a tradition, specially in rural areas.

In our group we feel, that we must do more to control the access to guns to individuals who are not fit to operate one. One of the main controls that we must enforce, is the psychological fortitude of an individual. We should not allow people that have serious metal health problems to purchase weapons. The problem is what do we classify as mental health problem? Is someone who suffers from depression really a danger to society or a danger to themselves? It seems like in today's age we have this social stigma that depressed people are dangerous. So the question is how far do we go? How about those people that go on with their lives, and then one event causes them to snap? A person like this would surely go unnoticed until it is too late. So is testing for psychological disorders a proven science that we can rely on to weed out the good from the bad? I think it would help the overall cause, but not eliminate it completely.

Some other controls that we can implement would be to improve the technology in weapons. One idea would be to have some sort of identification system in the actual weapon that will render the weapon useless unless it is the actual owner of the weapon who is using it. For example, have some sort of technology that requires something tailored to you, like a finger print, in order to use the weapon. Mandatory training should also be enforced for anyone to own a weapon. There is a lot of deaths in the US due to negligence in the handling of weapons. Having more training would help curb some of the accidental deaths caused by firearms.

The last control is the fact of limiting the size of magazines. We believe that magazines should be limited to about 12 rounds. There is no logical explanation that I can think of, on why an individual would need so many rounds at one time. In hunting you are not going to shoot the animal 30 plus times; one well aimed shot is all it takes. Luis, served in the military, and because of his training he claims that anyone could change magazine in under two seconds with enough practice. However most people that go on shooting rampages might not have this skill, and those two seconds while they reload is enough time for someone to stop an individual.

The fact that the US is a stable country allows our society to discuss such issues. I agree with the fact that we cannot pass one piece of legislature that will get rid of all gun violence. The problem I believe lies within our society. Our kids are being exposed to violence everywhere they go. One of the biggest causes has to be video games. How many video games are out there that are all about shooting guns? All those video games have a mature rating, which means you must be over 18 years old to purchase them. However parents still buy them for their kids. So the real issue I think is that we as a society are loosing our moral, and must make an extra effort to educate our children and instill in them that guns are dangerous, and they are not to be thought of simply as an object used for “fun.”

Based on the definition, “the state and taxation should be as small as possible since the only purpose of the government is protecting our lives and property.” Our argument leans more towards  liberal tendencies, in that we do not feel that the government should be able to restrict access to gun. Liberticians do not believe that drugs should be regulated by the government therefore they would feel the same way about gun control.