An ever-prominent reality that the United States must face is that firearms kill more than 30 000 Americans annually. At the heart of the issue is a fervent debate for and against gun control which, when boiled down to its core, is all about the second amendment: “a well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed” (Bill of Rights Institute, 2020). The purpose and meaning of this single sentence has changed over time and drastically varies between those who support gun control and those who oppose it.
Ratified in 1791, as a part of the ten amendments that make up the US Bill of Rights, the second amendment entered during an anti-federalist movement, meaning that the US did not have a standing army: any armed defence of the States would depend on the militia that would be mobilised. Hence, at the time, the amendment was less about an individual’s right to bear arms but rather, about enabling citizens to be a part of a collective militia that could protect the states and nation.
The meaning then took a turn in 2008 with the case of the District of Columbia v. Heller when the court ruled in favour of Heller, setting the precedent for individuals to possess and carry weapons in case of confrontation; eliminating the context of the militia. When the National Rifle Association (NRA) was founded after the Civil War, their purpose was to improve Yankee marksmanship and promote the sport of shooting. At the end of the twentieth century, the NRA developed its reputation as a ferocious and powerful faction interpreting the second amendment in a new way that meant the amendment was absolute and applied to all individuals.
In the words of Wayne LaPierre, Chief executive and executive vice president of the NRA, “for most of the last hundred years, a strong NRA has been the indispensable shield against the destruction of our nation’s Second Amendment rights” with an estimated “five million dues-paying members”.
Although the NRA seemingly represents gun owners and those who oppose gun control, the organisation in fact represents the gun industry itself with sponsorships from most major gun manufactures. Former Chief Justice, Warn Burger, furthers this point by labelling it as “one of the greatest pieces of fraud… on the American public by special interests groups that I have seen in my lifetime”.
Consequently, the NRA is more of an industry lobby group rather than a public interest group, making it is extremely difficult to facilitate a structured debate that works towards finding a solution.
Although the NRA does raise valid points such as it is not “the gun that shoots itself”, they deflect attention away from gun sales, blaming violence on things like video games: their priority is protecting the product. Dana Loesch, spokeswoman for the NRA, claims that “anything can be qualified as an assault weapon, if you stab someone with a spoon, it can be qualified as an assault weapon”, thus refusing to admit that the gun itself is part of the gun violence issue in America.
Nonetheless, there is no doubt that gun ownership is now intertwined with the identity of the United States and the second amendment is a huge driver of American politics. Gun control and violence will remain an immensely debated topic for the foreseeable future.
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