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Gun Control
The United States has more gun deaths annually than any other country in the free world.
Every time senseless deaths occur because of guns articles and editorials demand stricter gun
control laws. After the 2012 theatre shooting by James Holmes, who used multiple firearms to
kill 12 people and wound 70 others, the media was filled with journalists, commentators, and
families of the victims demanding gun control. Politicians in general issued words of sympathy
but passed on any significant debates about gun control.
Gun culture in the United States is often attributed to its frontier origins. In 1893
Frederick Jackson Turners published his famous thesis declaring the American frontier closed.
The Turner thesis elucidated a theory that Americans frontier society dates back to the Europeans
who settled in the land. Thus the frontier mentality became a decisive facet of the American
character. Turner supported his thesis by explaining how the desire for personal liberty and
territorial expansion became a part of the American national character via Manifest Destiny
(Davidson 1).
The frontier was subsequently lauded in books, television, and film. Life on the frontier
had its own laws because there was little official rules of law. It is often shown as a lawless land
and in some cases a land in which people who were armed to the teeth lived in a militarized style
zone. There were enemies everywhere be they hostile American Indians, Mexican raiders,

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outlaws, rouge soldiers, or wild animals.
According to Lawrence Davidson ideas about rugged individual and justice coming
from the barrel of a gun became part of modern US heritage. According to Davidson this
explains why almost civilians own almost 270 million firearms. Guns were an fundamental part
of legend of frontier culture. Therefore to many Americans they represent personal freedom
and a theoretically simpler time (Davidson 1).
It is not only politics that shapes gun control in the United States. Culture, government,
and law enforcement issues create massive obstacles to implementing gun control laws. Gun
control faces a culture that gives gun ownership a distinctive status in the United States. B J.
James research about whose morals and well-being appear to be jeopardized by gun control
discusses some of the hurdles faced by gun control advocates. A few of his conclusions are that
guns are ingrained in the culture as protection; guns carry cultural consequence and status in
America and the NRA has led many to believe that gun ownership is a constitutional right (44 ).
Gun control advocate Alan Dershowitz has discussed how Congress conjures the Second
Amendment whenever it refuses to pass laws banning ownership of assault weapons. The United
States Constitution Second Amendment states, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms,
shall not be infringed. This was a reference to rifles that fired one musket ball at a time.
Modern assault weapons are not the same as musket rifles. Assault weapons are not for hunting
and not useful for self-defense. Additionally, bearing arms was a military expression and this
part of the amendment refers to the American military. Bearing arms had nothing to do with
civilians and their weapons (Dershowitz 1).
Constitutional scholars explain that the Second Amendment addresses the right of a well
regulated militia to bear arms. The NRA co-opted the Second Amendment and uses it to

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counter any and all laws that try to normalize gun ownership. Furthermore, the NRA uses the
Second Amendment to promote gun sales by anyone to anyone without restriction including gun
sales online. NRA propaganda goes so far as to claim that gun ownership reduces gun violence
(Dershowitz 1).
Another scholar, Noam Chomsky, has weighed in on the misuse of the Second
Amendment. The Second Amendment does not protect the right of civilians to own guns.
According to Chomsky laws, the United States Constitution, and amendments are never
interpreted literally because humans interpret them and re-interpret them based on current
culture. Americas culture is one of fear. Americans fear being attacked by the United States
government (Chomsky and Barsamian 128).
Corporations in the United States have created this fear as a distraction to prevent
consumers from fearing corporations. The United States government can be held accountable
and the corporations are not accountable. Therefore, for many years, propaganda by
corporations has focused on the government as the enemy. Because of this people fear the
government is attacking them. The media has re-enforced the idea of the government as the
enemy because the media does not want to confront powerful corporations that have economic
control over their lives. Civilians wanting guns in order to protect themselves from imagined
personal threats by the government are absurd. Civilians with guns do not make the country
safer; they make it more dangerous (Chomsky and Barsamian 49).
During the America Revolution and immediately afterward there were laws passed to
control the sale of gunpowder. This was a response to the fear that a monarchal type government
might take power in America. In 1837 the first handgun ban passed. Before and after the Civil
War there were gun control laws that prohibited blacks from owning guns. In the famous 1856

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Dred Scott decision the Supreme Court ruled among other things that freed slaves did have the
right to own guns. This was a response to the crimes against blacks in the South. The Valentines
Day Massacre in 1929 led to the passage of gun control laws and eventually to the National
Firearms Act of 1934 (Cornell 142). Since 1934 automatic weapons have been regulated by the
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF).
The Gun Control Act of 1968 was a response to the assassination of President Kennedy.
The 1968 Act was designed to shore up gun control of illegal weapons at the federal, state, and
local levels. It contains extensive wording about all the people who are exempt from the law and
repeatedly states that it was not intended to restrain civilians from owning and buying firearms
(Cornell 141-142). It applies to licensed dealers, convicted felons, drug addicts and the mentally
ill only.
The 1986 Hughes Amendment to the National Firearms Act was considered formidable
legislation at the time. It caused heated debates between the proponents of the bill and pro-gun
lobbyists such as the NRA. The passage of the Hughes Amendment required that intent be
proven in order to prosecute someone for illegally selling forearms. It refined the already
constricted definition of licensed dealer (Hardy 1). Yet it invoked heated debates and is still the
subject of recall efforts today.
The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act became law on November 30, 1993. It is
especially significant because it endures. It requires a nationwide criminal background check to
allow firearm salesperson or corporation that is officially permitted to sell firearms to in order to
determine if the sale of a firearm to a buyer was legal or not. The Act originally required a fiveday waiting period for handgun purchases. The measure requires the firearm salesperson to
confirm place of residence of the gun purchaser with the police (Library of Congress).

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The Act forbids importers, manufacturers, and dealers from selling handguns to
unlicensed individuals. This caveat was weakened by the disclaimer that these large sellers of
handguns could sell to unlicensed persons under a long list of circumstances thereby establishing
many loopholes. The penalties and fines for violating the Act were minimal: a $1,000 fine
and/or imprisonment that cannot exceed one year (Library of Congress).
A 2000 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association reviewed the
effectiveness of the 1993 Brady Act. The requirements of the Act were watered down applying
licensed gun dealers in 32 states only. The Act called for background checks and a five-day hold.
Eighteen states were exempted allowing them to enforce their own gun control laws (Cook,
Sanford, and Ludwig 1-4). The Brady Act was further weakened in 1998 when the five-day
waiting period was revoked.
Early debates about the Brady Act revolved around the denial of gun sales to
approximately 44,000 people in 1996. These sales were denied because the buyers had felony
convictions and/or a history of mental illness. The study compared Brady states with non-Brady
states and found that there was no meaningful difference in the rate of deaths and gun-related
crimes. The rate of suicide by gun was lower in the Brady states however, causing the
researchers to conclude that the Act does reduce suicides (Cook, Sanford, and Ludwig 1 -4).
While the NRA uses studies such as this to proclaim that gun control laws do not reduce
gun-related crime, the fact that in one year 44,000 people were denied a gun is meaningful in
itself. Additionally, commonsense tells us that the Brady Act impeded the sale of guns from gun
dealers to the secondary gun market. The black-gray-secondary gun market handles
approximately 40 percent of all gun sales (Cook, Sanford, and Ludwig 1). The Brady Act only
applies to licensed gun dealers.

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Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, aka the Assault Weapons Ban,
was somewhat comprehensive compared to most gun-control laws. The 1994 bill cost $30
billion dollars to design and pass, and was 1,100 pages long. The bill was recognized with
lowering crime rates. However, in 2004 it expired and was not renewed during the pro-gun
presidency of George W. Bush. Bush never hid his hostility toward gun control laws. His
opposition to gun control was so well known that an NRA spokesperson claimed the NRA would
have an office in the Bush White House. Bush appointed gun advocate John Ashcroft U.S.
Attorney General. Ashcroft pushed for gun sale records to be expunged after 24 hours. His
rationale was that record keeping was equal to unauthorized gun registration (Spitzer 97).
After the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting in which a student shot and killed 32 people on
campus legislators were prompted to pass the NICS Improvement Act. This increased funding
for the habitually under-funded and often ignored National Instant Criminal Background Check
System. It also urged institutions and states to put forward mental health records to the NICS
index (Bureau of Justice Statistics). In 2008 Bushs legacy Supreme Court justices repealed
Washington D.C.'s handgun ban (District of Columbia v. Heller). In 2010, the same court struck
down Chicago's handgun ban (McDonald v. Chicago).
Back in 1970 Senator Joseph Tydings sponsored the failed Firearms Registration and
Licensing Act. As a result of his gun control advocacy he lost his bid for re-election. According
to Alan M. Dershowitz the reason nothing meaningful is accomplished in regards to gun control
by United States political leaders is because they fear the National Rifle Association (NRA)
more than they fear gun violence (1). Dershowitz contends that Al Gores courageous stand on
gun control cost him the 2000 Presidential election, and that has become a cautionary tale for
political leaders not to take on the NRA. After Gores loss political leaders, especially at the

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national level, avoid offending the NRA. Since that time, no national candidate or aspirant for
national office has dared to offend the gun lobby.
The NRA sponsored the recall of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a proponent
of gun-control legislation. In reaction to the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting of
schoolchildren and teachers by a pro-gun gun owner, Bloomberg had begun campaigning for
stricter gun laws. In response the NRA donated $360,000 to the recall committee attempting to
unseat Mayor Bloomberg (Purnick 159).
Recently, Colorado senators John Morse, Angela Giron, and Evie Hudak were subjected
to NRA-backed recall efforts. These senators supported laws passed after the theatre massacre.
Those laws called for background checks in private gun sales and banned the selling of gun
magazines that hold in excess of 15 rounds of ammunition (Palazzolo 1 -2).
The Senate did not pass the recent bill to develop more in-depth background checks for
gun buyers. That bill was another meek bipartisan gun-control law advocated by President
Obama. Mayor Michael Bloomberg used up approximately $12 million lobbying for the bill.
The NRA had lobbied against the modest expansion of background checks. Interestingly polities
who habitually fear the NRA and refuse to cross that organization may have to make a choice in
the future about which organizations they fear the most. There are indications that the voters in
the United States have had it with politicians who kowtow to the NRA.
New Hampshire Senator Kelly Ayotte was confronted at a town hall meeting by the
daughter of murdered Sandy Hook principal. Additionally after Ayottes no vote her disapproval
ratings jumped to 46 percent. Unexpected support for the bill came from Pennsylvania junior
Senator for Pennsylvania Pat Toomey. The NRA claims to have a hold on Pennsylvania, but may
be their grasp is weakening. The pro gun-rights libertarian Robert Levy announced that the

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NRAs stonewalling of the background-check proposal was a mistake, both politically and
substantively (Levy 1).
There have been so many repercussions in the form of bad press and letter campaigns that
junior senator John Isakson and junior senator Jeffry Flake have made noises about changing
their no votes. Majority Leader Harry Reid, an NRA member, tried to stem critics from his
constituents by suggesting that maybe they could have a re-vote on the bill (Macgillis 1).
Tom Edsall of the NYT claims that politicians miscalculate their constitutes'
conservatism. Additionally they do not comprehend that much of the public is becoming
disgusted with the heartless comments after every mass shooting by the NRA and are offended
the organizations constant grandstanding. The ceaseless invocation of the Second Amendment
by the NRA and it many mean-spirited vocal supporters is wearing thin on a public appalled by
the lack of control over gun violence in the United States.
Though the NRA claims gun control laws have been ineffective and lobbies to have them
thrown out gun ownership in the United States has declined steadily since 1970s when the
modern gun-control movement emerged. Another pretentious habit of the NRA is to grade
candidates on how well they support the NRA. This technique is losing its charm as well. At
least six senators and governors who received an F grade from the NRA won their most recent
elections. According to newly elected Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut declares, the NRA
does not win elections anymore. As evidence Murphy offers up how 13 out of 16 NRA
supported candidates lost in the senate elections last year (Macgillis 1-4).
A politically motivated gun owner shot Congresswoman Gabrielle Gifford in the head
with a semi-automatic in 2011. The shooting took place in front of a suburban grocery store.
The gun owner shot and killed six people and injured thirteen others. President Obama

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expressed great sympathy for Gifford and the other victims. However his stance on gun control
continued to be mostly verbal. In 2011 and 2012 President Obama stated he would enforce
existing laws rather than offering ideas about new laws (Dershowitz 1).
President Barack Obama spoke out in favor of stricter gun control laws again in January
of 2013 after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. He referred to new laws to be passed
by Congress and alluded to possible executive actions being taken if Congress failed to enact
such laws. President Obama reiterated the much-neglected need to have secondary market gun
sales regulated. He spoke about bans on assault weapons. His proposal was to limit the sale of
magazines to 10 rounds maximum and ban private possession of armor-piercing bullets. Obama
called for funding the Center for Disease Controls research on gun violence; funding that has
consistently been denied by previous administrations (Whitehouse).
On September 16, 2013 Aaron Alexis, 34 year old Navy contractor with a history of
mental illness shot and killed 12 people at the Washington Navy Yard. Again President Obama
spoke on the subject of gun control. Again his speech was a reaction to a mass shooting.
Obama referred to gun-control legislation package that is currently being delayed in Congress.
These and other comments from Obama about the need for gun control in the United States have
been made after all of the mass shooting during his presidency. After Fort Hood, Sandy Hook,
Aurora, and the Gifford shootings Obama advocated for stricter gun control laws and more
complete background checks. Each time he has been opposed by Republicans and pro-gun
Democrats in Congress (The Guardian). The NRAs response to the Navy Yard shooting was
that it had nothing to do with the lack of gun control.
Grassroots pro-control groups have started to form and though they may never reach the
decibel level of NRA members they are having an impact. Moms Demand Action and other

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groups have demanded the attention of the pro-gun rights politicians who thought they could
blithely vote no on the Obama supported legislation. Eric Cantor is one of their targets. A
survey of his home state, Virginia, revealed that eighty-five percent supported the gun-control
proposal. The no vote on the proposed legislation did not disperse pro-gun control supporters as
it has in the past. Instead, it rallied them. After the no vote membership in Moms Demand
Action rose 30 percent and the group received $11 million dollars in donations within four
months (Macgillis 3-4).
This small humble bill is not the end, it is the beginning of a new vocal pro-gun control
lobby. However some politicians who have been supporting gun control have suddenly become
more moderate. Macgillis of The New Republic pointed out that a notable example is the change
in Senator Joe Manchins political ads. Formerly his ads labeled protect our Second
Amendment rights showed the West Virginia senator shooting a rifle at a stack of paperwork
about a trade bill. His new ad shows him with a rifle talking about responsibility and the need
for gun control legislation, at the end of the ad he encourages viewers to contact the NRA and
demand they support expanded background checks. Machlin claims to be a gun supporter from a
gun culture who was convinced by the Sandy Hook shooting and the fact that the Al Qaeda
terrorists bought their firearms at United States gun shows (1).
After the massacres at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University the NRA proposed
legislation that would allow people to bring concealed weapons on to college campuses. This
legislation would outlaw colleges and universities from having polices against guns on campus.
Author Robert J. Spitzer, an NRA member and a Brady Center member seeks an end to the
conflict-ridden topic of gun control. He is concerned that after school shootings and political
assassinations the media leaps on the gun control as a means of fanning the flames of

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controversy. His discussion includes the illogic behind the NRA proposal to support gun caches
on college campuses as a means of controlling gun violence (63).
In response to the pro-gun legislation Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Mississippi, Oregon,
Utah, and Wisconsin now allow guns on their campuses including classrooms and dormitories.
The Campaign to Keep Guns Off Campus and The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence have a
website that features the gun policies in each state so that parents can make better informed
decisions about where, or where not, to send their kids to college (Armed Campuses). Kansas
passed a bill permitting concealed carry weapons on campus in general and Arkansas passed a
rule that permits faculty members to carry. The Kansas legislation also prohibits colleges and
universities from banning weapons on campus. School administrators are lobbying for a 4 year
exemption from enforcing the legislation.
Gun control legislation in the United States has been timid and has been met with violent
opposition. Whenever pass gun control laws were attempted there was swift and hostile
resistance from gun rights lobbyists. The Brady Act has been somewhat effective in that it
prevented easy access to guns to convicted felons. A policy that seems obvious on face value but
was opposed by the NRA. Research also revealed that an unforeseen consequence of the Brady
Act was that it reduced suicides in older Americans because of the waiting period that has since
been revoked.
There currently is no legislation that applies to the secondary market. Recently Congress
failed to pass even the most limited legislation that would expand and fund background checks.
Gun control advocates are moving past their puzzlement about the resistance to controlling
assault rifles. They are gearing up campaigns against the NRA and in favor of gun control. The
campaigns have only just begun but they are starting to succeed. These grassroots movements

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and the political leaders they inspire offer hope in passing gun control laws. If more forceful
laws are not passed the tragedies and mass shootings in the United States will continue.

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Works Cited
Books
Chomsky, Noam, and David Barsamian. Secrets, Lies, and Democracy. Tucson, Ariz:
Odonian Press, (1994). Print.
Cornell, Saul. A Well-Regulated Militia: The Founding Fathers and the Origins of Gun
Control in America. Oxford: Oxford University Press, (2008). Print.
Purnick, Joyce. Mike Bloomberg: Money, Power, Politics. New York: Public Affairs, (2009).
Internet resource.
James, B J. Impediments to More Gun Controls. (2004). Print.
Spitzer, Robert J. The Politics of Gun Control. Boulder Colo.: Paradigm Publishers, (2012).
Print.
Articles
Armed Campuses. A guide for students & parents: review our list of colleges and
universities in the United States forced to allow guns on campus. (2013) Retrieved
from www.armedcampuses.org.
Cook, Philip J., Sanford, Terry and Jens Ludwig. Has the Brady Act been Successful? Duke
Today. Duke University. (2000). Internet resource.
Davidson, Lawrence. Americas Frontier Mentality. Consortium News. (2012). Internet
Resource.
Dershowitz, Alan, Why the United States Wont Control Guns. Haaretz. (2012).
Internet resource.
Macgillis, Alec. This Is How The NRA Ends. The New Republic. (2013). Internet

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resource.
Marson, Chuck. "Taking Aim: Why Gun Control Won't Work." California Lawyer. 21.1 (2001).
Print.
Government Websites
Bureau of Justice Statistics. The NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007.
Retrieved from http://www.bjs.gov
Library of Congress. Retrieved from http://www.loc.gov/index.html
Whitehouse. Now is the time to do something about gun violence. Retrieved from
http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/preventing-gun-violence.
Legal Cases
District of Columbia v. Heller
McDonald v. Chicago
News Agencies
Associated Press. Barack Obama urges resistance to 'creeping resignation. The Guardian.
(2013). Internet resource.
Hardy, Michael. Guns and Roses. The Huffington Post. (2013). Internet resource.
Levy, Robert A. A Libertarian Case for Expanding Gun Background Checks. New York Times.
(2013). Internet resource.
Palazzolo, Joe. Lawmaker Quits Over Gun Control Wall Street Journal. (2013).
Internet resource.