Gun control in America has always been a hot button topic. It is defined as regulation of the selling, owning and use of guns. In recent years, it has become extremely easy to purchase and own a gun. After all, it is the right of the people to bear arms but does it still hold up in today’s society? Many argue that it does not.
Through loopholes like the gun show and terror loopholes, criminals are able to slip through screening processes with ease. There is speculation that these loopholes and the ease of purchasing firearms potentially leads to terrorist attacks and mass shootings. These incidents have become increasingly prevalent in our society, so much so, that there now is a definition of mass shooting.
According to Mother Jones, the term refers to an incident involving multiple victims of gun violence. Mother Jones writes, “Generally, there are three terms you’ll see to describe a perpetrator of this type of gun violence: mass murdered, spree killer, or serial killer. An FBI crime classification report from 2005 identifies an individual as a mass murderer if he kills four or more people in a single incident ( not including himself), typically in a single location.“
According to Mother Jones, there is even a criterion for mass shootings.
“The attack must have occurred essentially in a single incident, in public place. We excluded crimes of armed robbery, gang violence, or domestic violence in a home, focusing on cases on which the motive appeared to be indiscriminate mass murder. The Killer in accordance with the FBI criterion had to have taken the lives of at least four people.”
These incidents seem to keep occurring and are becoming increasingly violent. In Orlando, a record 49 people were killed and yet, many argue that gun control laws should not be changed.
Conservative United States writes, “Gun control laws won’t stop mass shootings. The tragic rash of school, religious and workplace shootings has turned up the heat on the public conversation about guns. In nearly all these cases, however, more restrictive gun laws would not have stopped the shooters from legally obtaining a firearm. Most mass shootings are perpetrated by mentally disturbed individuals who have never been previously been identified as dangerous.”
In the case of Orlando shooter, Omar Mateen, who carried out the worst mass shooting in U.S history, this is not true. Mateen, 29, worked as a security officer for a private security company since 2007 and was cleared by internal background checks twice.
CNN writes, “According to a company spokesman, the check included a criminal record check, prior employment check, education check, social security check, credit report check, driver’s license record check, drug test and work references. It also administered an assessment called the security profile, which G4S (the security company) says is meant to determine an individual’s potential as a security officer. Florida state records show that Mateen was a licensed security officer.”
After such a rigorous screening process, Mateen still managed to slip through. What does this say about gun laws in America? Should they be examined and if so will anything change? In a time when news outlets in other countries refer to mass shootings as “just another day in America,” these laws and the stigma surrounding them need to be reformed.
