Monday, June 20, 2016
Is This Country Actually Anti-Gun Control?
After the mass shooting in Orlando this past week, the 136th mass shooting in the United States in 2016 alone, gun control has again taken the foreground for Congress. On Capitol Hill Democrats and Republicans wage a metaphorical war over how to react to all of these ruthless killings. Democrats are arguing for gun regulation bills to be discussed. Senator Chris Murphy, whose district includes Newton, Connecticut, where the Sandy Hook school shooting occurred, recently filibustered on the Senate floor for 14 hours just to get assurance that the Senate will vote on two gun related bills. Meanwhile, across the aisle, Republicans are attempting to focus the blame for these recurring killings on mental health or radicalized Islamic terrorism. They are trying abnormally hard to make sure gun-control laws are not passed or even considered. All of this partisan disagreement would make it seem like America is land divided by guns. However, peering beyond the surface reveals that this split is mainly occurring in Congress. A recent poll conducted by the Pew Research Center reveals that everyday Americans are in agreement over most proposed gun control measures. The poll showed that 85 percent of people support background checks for gun purchases, 79 percent approve barring mentally ill people from buying guns, 70 percent support a database to track gun purchases and 57 percent approve of a ban on assault weapons. These numbers show that Americans are actually more in agreement than Congress, the people average citizens elect to have their voices heard. Then why is Congress so split then along party lines? A major factor in this partisan disagreement is the National Rifle Association. The NRA is not just an organization for casual hunters to talk about guns anymore. They are now a political powerhouse will heavy influence in Washington. Because of the funds they supply candidates with, it is not hard for them to push their agenda forward. If politicians want this flow of money to keep coming in they must agree with the views of the NRA, which includes being against almost all forms of gun regulation. If politicians want these massacres to stop they must realize that there may be some negative consequences, but standing up for what is best for the country will be worthwhile in the long run.
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Reading through my classmates' blogs, I stumbled across a post that caught my eye titled "Is This Country Actually Anti-Gun Control?" by Jacob Greenly. My peer analyzes the United States's reaction to the Orlando shooting to support that although American citizens are not actually anti-gun control, United States politicians are.
ReplyDeleteMy colleague states that Democrats are arguing for the discussion of gun regulation bills, while Republicans are focusing on who's to blame for these recurring killings rather than finding a solution. He addresses this widening gap between Democrats and Republicans in response to the Orlando shooting, asserting that America is land divided by guns. He then states that Republicans are anti-gun control because they are funded by the National Rifle Association. My classmate then moves to critique this reasoning and argues that if politicians want these massacres to stop, they must accept that although there may be consequences, standing up for what is best for the country will be worthwhile in the long run.
However, this country is not made up of solely politicians. There are every day citizens like you and I and my colleague moves to address what the people want by citing the results of a poll conducted by Pew Research Center to not only prove that the people are not anti-gun control, but also to prove that he has the credibility and knowledge to address this topic. Furthermore, my peer comments on how the American citizens are more unified than the people they elected to represent them and that clearly, politicians must focus on stopping these massacres because that's what the people demand. I completely agree with my colleague. Money may be important, but is it worth risking millions of lives for? Does politician greed really surpass the importance of American lives?