The US Gun Control Debate

Things Are Not That Simple, Nor As They Have Been Painted

The issue of guns and gun controls in the United States has been up front and centre once again.  The issue is complex and has many moving parts.  It is tiresome just to contemplate writing a reasonable analysis, together with recommendations.  But every so often someone makes the attempt. 

Kiwi-in-America writes guest posts at Kiwiblog from time to time.  He has gone to the trouble of writing a (lengthy) post on guns and gun controls in the United States.  It is very well done--and written from the background of New Zealand's experience with firearms. 

For those who want an excellent precis on the issue, we cannot recommend this post too highly.  We will copy and paste the first few paragraphs, then provide a link to the full article.  The narrative describing the background to the recent Parkland, Florida--Nicholas Cruz murders--14 February 2018, alone leaves one aghast. 

It has been some months since I have guest posted here at Kiwiblog. I have chosen to wade into one of the most contentious topics of US domestic policy, that of suitable gun laws especially as America debates appropriate responses to the latest mass shooting in Parkland, Florida.

I begin this segment with an observation as a kiwi now living in the US. It is very common for us kiwis to view much of what goes on in the US through our own cultural lens. This is particularly true of America’s gun laws and gun culture. Almost all New Zealanders of all political persuasions find America’s obsessions with guns to be at best, odd and disconcerting and at worse, pathological and dangerous. It is very easy to moralise from afar that such horrible incidents of violence are because of America’s unhealthy attachment to its 2nd Amendment right to bear arms and the seemingly pervasive influence of the National Rifle Association (NRA), the largest gun owners association in the US. Most kiwis simplistically maintain that if only America conducted itself like NZ (or other Anglophile countries where handguns are outlawed, and rifle ownership is more strictly controlled) that such mass murders wouldn’t happen, or at least not with the same frequency.

I would ask that you read this post with an open mind and with the view that NZ’s gun laws will never be enacted in the US for reasons that will become apparent and that the issue is much more complex and nuanced than the simplistic and emotion-laden slogans indulged in by any who oppose the US gun ownership model and by the mainstream media in the US who heavily support stricter gun control measures. This post attempts to pierce through the rhetoric and partisan bias and tries to propose practical solutions that stand a chance of passage into law and likely implementation by law enforcement that can and should make a difference in reducing the carnage.

STATISTICS

First off let’s examine the statistics to put mass shootings into context. Mass shootings, whilst they commandeer headlines, are actually very rare, especially when you look at the totality of gun related deaths in a country as large as the US where there are as many guns as there are people (325 million). Mass shootings in terms of numbers of victims have not been increasing in the US and indeed, the level of total gun related homicides in the US has dropped to 15,000 in 2016 (latest full year when statistics are available from the FBI) from a peak of almost 25,000 in 1991. . . .

Read the complete piece, here.