Guns in the United States of America

After recent incidents in our country, the most prominent being the horrific events in Florida, our country has been thrown into further partisan divide. I hate to generalize, but for the sake of understanding, there are three major groups: gun ban, gun control and gun rights.

Most people are furious that republican representatives and NGOs like the NRA are still on their “protect gun rights” and their “second amendment” spiels. What most people don’t realize is that gun banning and gun control have already been lumped together as one party. Banning guns is equivalent to disregarding the second amendment. It doesn’t matter if some of us don’t see a need for guns (me included). It’s a right and there is historical reasoning for keeping guns in the hands of citizens.

There is so much focus on the AR-15 and the devastation that it causes because it’s an “assault rifle”. STOP. If we want comprehensive legislation that doesn’t threaten the rights of anyone, we need to be well informed as citizens. AR does not stand for “assault rifle”. It stands for “ArmaLite” the company which created this firearm. NO, an AR-15 is still not an assault rifle even though it’s not in the name. It is a semi-automatic weapon which shoots one round per pull of a trigger. Most handguns are semi-automatic as well and pose a larger threat to the safety of others since it’s concealable. The only difference is that handguns have a minimum set age while ARs (“long guns”) don’t have a minimum which is why they are more prominently used in these attacks.

So what now?

There is a necessity in this country for the current system to be revamped. long guns need to be treated like handguns — equally as deadly. But people need to stop calling AR-15s “assault rifles” because spewing incorrect information only helps to discredit our stance. M-16s and AR-15s are alike but not the same. One is a military grade assault rifle and the other is a consumer grade semi-automatic weapon (so are some hand guns). Does everyone know what an AR-15 even looks like?

We need to be aware, we need to understand and we need to be empathetic to opposition. Extreme change rarely happens. It never will happen in such a short period of time. The idea of “banning guns” is the reason we can’t come to a partisan agreement. Those who support this idea are only pouring water on an oil fire. Instead we need to take things step by step with legislation that allows for compromise and agreement.

Think about the current state of our laws. Background checks and licencing are lax at best. There aren’t even strict mental health checks or required training in the uses of firearms. There is also a collective action problem among the states when it comes to creating a central database for those who are ineligible to obtain these weapons. When you combine these loopholes with the fact that there is not national minimum age for a person to own a “long” gun (for now 18 is the minimum age to buy one), issues tend to arise. I can purchase a gun before I’m allowed to drink. That’s crazy. Most states actually override the federally set minimum age limit.

So why can’t the NRA and republicans come to the negotiation table? Why can’t there be a bipartisan effort to enforce gun safety and strict background and mental health checks? We might not know unless people can stop yelling and sit down to talk about it like civil people. Both republicans and democrats need to stop putting out halve truths/lies and start talking facts that can lead to a real debate of facts based on logos and ethos.

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