Podcast

Gun violence and gun control in America are major concerns. There are two opinions on gun control: protecting the second amendment or making gun laws stricter. The NRA is a gun rights group that believes in the right to own firearms. They argue that gun control won't stop criminals and that more guns make the country safer. The Brady campaign supports gun control and has successfully lobbied for bans on certain weapons. Congress is involved in discussions on gun control, but they must balance moral and economic values. There are also anti-gun organizations advocating for stricter laws. The debate on gun control should involve all stakeholders and find a solution that addresses gun violence while respecting individual rights. Hi everyone and welcome to my podcast. My name is Sal Atifi and today I will be talking about gun violence and gun control in America. Gun violence has become a major concern in the United States over the years. Gun control laws should be designed to protect public safety while respecting individual rights. Gun control can be defined as the regulation of firearms in order to reduce the risk of harm caused by a misuse. There are two opinions on the policy for gun control. One opinion is that we must protect our second amendment to bear arms. The other is to make gun laws stricter. The National Rifle Association is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States of America. They started as a group to teach troops better marksmanship, while today they are the biggest defender of second amendment rights they had initially been formed to teach firearm education. The slogan that the NRA is most popular for using is guns don't kill people, people kill people. The NRA believes people have their second amendment right to own a firearm outside of their home and have open carry. The second amendment protects our rights to possess a firearm and to bear arms. Open carry is the practice of carrying a firearm in public. The NRA believes that restricting gun laws won't stop criminals from purchasing them and committing crimes. Two federal gun control laws that were passed were the Gun Control Act of 1968 and the Brady Handgun Violence Act of 1993. The Gun Control Act of 1968 was an act imposed to ban all weapons being transported unless they are licensed as dealers, manufacturers, importers, or collectors. The Brady Handgun Act of 1993 is an act implemented as a waiting period of five days while a background check is completed before a licensed manufacturer, importer, or dealer can sell or deliver to the clients. The NRA states that these legislations were passed to make it difficult to obtain firearms, however they have not proven that gun control actually works. They believe that more guns makes the country safer. The NRA gives these reasons why gun control doesn't work. Firstly, criminals don't obey gun laws. They don't abide by rules and regulations and are able to obtain firearms legally. Second, background checks are not effective because even though criminals do not consent to them, they won't stop from committing crimes. Third, crime goes down when good guys have guns because allowing citizens to access firearms can help reduce violent crimes. Lastly, cities with the strictest gun control have the highest crime rate. In order for this to be prevented, laws have to be enforced towards criminals who carry and use their firearms to commit crimes. Morals come into question when activists are pushing for gun laws to be stricter. Ethically speaking, it is our own right to own a gun and that right cannot be infringed. There are two more stakeholders on gun rights. The first is gun manufacturers. Gun manufacturers make all types of guns and supporting equipment. They have an unconditional interest in the second amendment and gun control because it affects their business. Economically, gun manufacturers need to sell guns and having stricter gun control laws will be causing them harm. The other is congress. Congress is on both sides of the liberals and the conservatives. They have an interest in the second amendment and gun control. They need money for their campaigns. People giving them money for their campaigns is the NRA lobbyists and gun manufacturing lobbyists. Congress is the one involved in discussions for and against weapon bans and background checks. This puts congress in a risky spot where they have to balance moral and economical values since the ones putting in position are the ones they are making the laws against. The Brady campaign is one stakeholder for more gun control. They are an American non-profit organization that advocates for gun control and gun violence. It has successfully lobbied to ban the manufacturing and importation of so-called military styled weapons. In today's world, they are known for defending the 10th amendment which allows law enforcement to conduct background checks. The 10th amendment states that any power or right not listed in the constitution as belonging to the federal government belongs to individual states or the American people themselves. President Biden signed the Bipartisan Savers Community Act which helped address gun violence since the 10 year ban of assault rifles in 1994. In 1994, a federal assault weapons ban was signed for 10 years. This is the only recent legislation against assault weapons that has been passed. There are two other stakeholders that are anti-gun organizations called Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America and Americans for Responsible Solutions. Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America is a movement in the U.S. for mothers advocating for stricter gun control laws. Action for Responsible Solutions is an organization that advocates for policy changes, educating the people about the impact of gun violence on individuals, families, and communities. Ethics and morals come into question when discussing gun control. Many people want stricter gun laws for the safety of their children. No one wants to see little kids in danger because of gun violence and having their life at risk. There have been 146 mass shootings in the country since January according to the Gun Violence Archive. The response from the NRA to the Nashville shooting was to implement more security in schools. Recently there was a NRA convention in Indianapolis, Indiana on April 14th to the 16th. Former Vice President Mike Pence was in attendance at the event and he said, We need crime control. We don't need lectures about the liberties of law-abiding citizens. We need solutions to protect our kids. Definitely both sides can agree that protecting our kids is our main goal. However, crime control and gun control do go hand in hand. In conclusion, I personally believe that we should have guns for our protection, but at the same time I do want people and their families to be safe from the violence. People can have their Second Amendment right to keep their firearms and use it for a good purpose such as self-defense, hunting, or it could be used for the job as a police officer. Everyone has the right to own a gun, but they should always be careful and use it in situations that are necessary. But the most important thing is the safety of our people. There are many people each year that are injured or killed because of gun violence. In 2020, 45,222 people died from gun violence. It was a 14% increase from the year before. Every year about 19,000 children and teens are shot or wounded. Approximately 3 million kids are exposed to gun violence each year. People need to be more careful if they are going to own a firearm. They have to protect themselves just as much as they need to protect others. I also feel bad for some gun owners because there are a lot of people who use guns for a good purpose and a lot of people are pushing to have them restricted. Imagine in the middle of the night, someone armed breaks into your house and you don't have a firearm to defend yourself with, what's going to happen to that person? A lot of people would be upset with the fact that they can't even defend themselves in their own home because they want to strict their gun laws. One course of action we can use for gun safety is to reduce the access of the younger generation and individuals who are at risk of harming themselves and others. There should be some accountability for gun manufacturers and the NRA. Even though it is not the guns, if there is better information for our gun safety, then we can possibly decrease gun violence in the future. I think we should hold Congress accountable and make gun laws for dangerous weapons. Definitely both sides can agree that protecting our kids is the main goal, however, crime control and gun control can go hand in hand. The only way to resolve the debate on gun control is to get both stakeholders to sit down and come up with a solution. This solution should take action for the gun violence that has occurred and also allow the pro-gun stakeholders to be happy with what is decided. Thank you everyone and see you later.