Florida Rep. Carlos Curbelo is leading 20 members of the House of Representatives in an effort to ban bump fire stocks. These devices are used to fire automatic weapons more efficiently and were used in Vegas. In a statement alongside the legislation, Curbelo said,"For the first time in decades, there is growing bipartisan consensus for sensible gun policy, a polarizing issue that has deeply divided Republicans and Democrats".
Personally, I side with the 40% who believe that gun control laws would be effective. I don't think that there's really any way to halt gun violence in America completely, but there definitely is a chance we can shrink it. It's good that Americans are starting to come together on the issue as Curbelo said, but there still is a divide which hurts the process of creating solid gun laws.
Do you believe Congress should put gun control towards the top of their priority list? And how much should the laws restrict?
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12 comments:
I agree that Congress should push gun control near the top of their priorities however I am not entirely convinced stricter gun laws will be totally effective. These people that follow through with these mass shootings such as the one in Las Vegas are obviously motivated enough to murder hundreds of people and will clearly do anything to fulfill their "duties." How are banning specific guns and devices supposed to restrict these people from obtaining them. They'll just smuggle and steal guns since they are already planning a massive crime. Although stricter gun laws may not be totally effective, they will still make it more difficult for people to obtain certain guns and will hopefully hinder gun violence for at least the time being.
I also think that gun laws should be a larger priority. There needs to be stricter gun control regulations to prevent people who should not have guns from having guns. Regarding the bump fire stocks, I think these should be banned, as I think that the power of an automatic weapon is unnecessary for self-defense and should not be granted to any one citizen. It is encouraging to see that this is a bipartisan gun control bill, as Republicans and Democrats are at least agreeing on this ban. Nevertheless, I am also with the Democrats who fear that this type of specific and targeted law takes away focus from the bigger issue, which is fortifying background checks and gun control in general.
In my opinion, gun control should be one of Congress’ top priorities due to the repeated misuses of guns, with the night club in Florida and the airport shooting in Fort Lauderdale to name a few. According to Washington post 3% of Americans own over 50% of the guns in the United States, which makes me question the argument of self-defense that Republicans ought to make. Why would an individual need to own so many guns to protect themselves? How do laws even allow an individual to possess that many guns? Practically speaking, I understand that Republicans would never agree to amend or repeal the second amendment. However, the process of acquiring guns must be made difficult, provisioning and background checking all individuals who wish to buy a gun. Moreover, certain guns that are dangerous beyond self protection should be banned from personal possession, just like the guns that Curbelo mentions.
The cry for "stricter gun control" has been repeated over and over again over the past decade. To me, Congress passing stricter legislation or outright banning guns would not do much to mitigate our national gun problem.The insipid idea that we can pass laws to keep people who break laws, from breaking laws, is shockingly poor logic. Take our mandatory background checks. When purchasing a firearm, one's criminal record, mental health, dishonorable military discharges, immigration status, and many more details are checked. Many people believe we need to strengthen these checks, but what does that even mean? What's next, will one have to give a DNA test and solve a Rubix cube to get their hands on a gun? The recent Las Vegas shooter passed all his background checks, so what would stronger "background checks" even do? My point is, people who want to do harm will find a way to do it, legally or illegally.
Legislation is not the way to prevent future mass shootings, but rather better control over how the media presents these massacres will. This most recent shooting in Las Vegas has provided days of content for various news channels on TV, and all of them do the same thing: lead with the body count and plaster the shooter's face all over the TV, 24/7. This practice simply propagates more of these shooters. Take the Columbine and Virginia Tech shootings. These shootings spawned many copycats because the news played these shootings up so much that kids across America looked to these guys as heroes because of all the fame and attention they were getting. To prevent these future shooters, any mass shooting needs to be localized to the affected area, the killer's name should not be mentioned, and it should be presented in the most boring way possible. That way, people across America are unable to get any ideas from these guys.
I believe that stricter gun laws should be close to the top of the priority list for Congress. I don't understand why powerful guns are legal. The purpose of the second amendment is for self protection but automatic and more powerful, dangerous guns are rarely used for self protection and more often for massacres like this. I think a good approach would be to ban these more dangerous firearms. I also think there should be more intensive background checks. Both of these are constitutional because people will still be able to bear arms. Additionally, even if these more restrictive gun laws seem less efficient, they still should be implemented because every life saved is important. Although stricter gun laws may not completely stop this horrible problem, it will definitely limit it, which is a good start.
I do think that gun control should be a big priority in terms of problems in the US that need to be addressed more. I think we all know that it is impossible to stop all gun crimes, and people but will get their hands on guns regardless of if they are banned or not, but making the process of getting a gun more extensive or banning certain guns will make mass shootings more difficult, and in turn, make them less likely to happen. That does not mean they wont happen, because they will, but we have the ability to reduce the number of them. Also, legislation on gun control is not the only way we can help limit the chances of a mass shooting. Helping the mentally ill and controlling how these crimes are portrayed can also help.
Like most, I also think that gun control should be a big priority and I do think that it is near the top of the government's priority. There have been multiple mass shootings in the US and I have no doubt that it has got the government's attention. But I do not think that we should firmly restrict the sale or ownership of all weapons. Although I think that assault weapons should not be able to obtained by ordinary citizens, I think handguns should. In my opinion, the restriction of all firearms in the US will only encourage more illegal activities and crime. With the US being such a big nation, enforcing firm laws might be difficult. Although background checks may not be the most effective form of curbing gun crime, I think it is the best way to encourage legally obtaining weapons and ensuring that rights won't be infringed upon.
Yes I believe gun control laws should be at the top of Congress's priority list, especially following this great tragedy. The faster gun control is put in place, the less likely such mass shootings could occur again. Personally, I believe that guns should be banned from citizens altogether, however it is unlikely that would come to pass. If possible, only handguns should be legal to acquire and would require intense background checks and permits to own. This way the "right to bear arms" is not restricted and the chance of a mass shooting to occur would be drastically decreased due to lack of firepower.
The problem with gun control is that it will increase activity in the black market. As thing become harder to obtain, the black market becomes more prevalent and bigger. People who obtain these weapons do not follow the law and get them via illegal methods. Additionally, harder gun control laws have not worked. For example, California has probably the strictest gun control laws in the entire United States, yet the mass shooting at San Bernadino happened. Additionally, in Russia, it is illegal to own any type of firearm, yet the homicide rate is 3 times higher than in the United States. Personally, we need to focus on why the people want to commit acts of violence, in mental health and socioeconomic problems of the shooter. Research on these areas would get rid of the root of the problem, rather than the symptoms which are the guns that people use. I agree with Josh that the media coverage has been terrible over the mass shootings, as it has got mentally ill people to be inspired in their own weird way by the fame in the media that the shooter got.
I believe that gun control should be a high priority for congress but not at the top of the list. I think gun control laws need more restrictions such as background checks and restrictions on assault weaponry. Guns should not be easy to acquire but they should not be impossible to acquire.
If it was possible, I would prevent all Americans from acquiring automatic weapons. Guns are supposed to be used as self defense, but the truth is that many people use them to commit terrible crimes. However, the truth is that gun control is simply not effective. Regulating guns takes guns away from law abiding citizens, and is ineffective with criminals, who will find a way to get their guns regardless. To me, gun violence is definitely a present day issue, but gun control is not the right answer.
I don't think that Gun control should be the top listing considering their are some issues that are slightly more important. I don't think having stricter gun laws will do anything, bad people will always find a way to gain weapons from the black market or even from the deep web where they can purchase guns online.
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