While the
government seems to be an entangle “housefly”, stranded in a spider web in the
fight, citizens are somewhat divided on the issue. Just as civil right
legislation between the period of 1955 and 1968 and same sex marriage
legislation, abortion legislation, Gun control has grown to become a very
polemic issue in America today.
The
staggering statistics on gun related crimes and murder in America is so
outrageous and cannot be overemphasized. According to the FBI Uniform Crime
Report, between 2006 and 2010, 47,856 people were murdered in the U.S. by
firearms. That is comparable to wiping out an entire population of Hohoe, a
town in the Volta region of Ghana, a country in the western part of Africa. In
2011, there were 12,664 murders in the US. Of those, 8,583 were caused by firearms.
The year 2012 was finally crowned by the massacre of 26 innocent children who
were gunned down in New-town Connecticut.
According to
the latest Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, There are more
than 129,817 federally licensed firearms dealers in the United States. An
average of 88 per 100 people in America today own guns according to a 2007
small arm survey.
CNN reports
that about 50% of the Guns in the world are owned by Americans.
Recent gun
related incidence has generated a wide range of interest in various fields of
study. Philosophers will ask a basic
question, whether there "exist" an inverse relationship between the
current gun regulation and the rampant gun incidence in America.
Psychologist will want to know whether
the perpetrators of these gun atrocities suffer from any psychological disorder
or had had a problem fitting into the society.
Sociologist will want to know whether
there is a breakdown in the moral values of families and the society at large
thus unable to effectively model the moral character of individuals to enable
them to exercise good ethical judgment and maintain a healthy rapport with
fellow colleagues and other individuals in the society.
Coincidentally when writing this piece,
the news reported that two Maryland University students have been murdered by
their colleague. The villain apparently shot himself dead after committing such
a heinous act. Although this did not make the headlines of the media for weeks
as the infamous New Town Connecticut shooting, where 26children were shot dead
, it is a clear and vivid indication of the of the numerous atrocities and
violence people perpetuate in various communities and towns that escape the
swift eagle eyes of the media.
Nuclear weapons will make the whole
world unsafe but guns and firearms in individual possession will make people of
any country more unsafe.
When will it be finally enough to take
the bull by the horn and swallow the bitter pill?
Taking away guns from people,
strengthening gun laws and legislation is a bitter pill for every government
to swallow. It is like putting censorship on the internet or a military
government establishing a curfew for its subjects. It might undermine some
fundamental civil liberties and definitely will face some stiff opposition.
But any attempt to disarm a society by
placing a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines will
make any country safer.
“Sometimes you pick the time;
sometimes the time picks you, sadly, the time has picked us. And I’m just
convinced that as a country, if we don’t move forward in a thoughtful way to do
something to protect our babies, it will never happen” (Arne, Duncan. U.S
Education Secretary).
References ML
Simon, Rogers “Gun crime statistics by
US state: latest data.” WWW.guardian.co.uk. December 17th 2012. February 18th
2013 <
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/jan/10/gun-crime-us-state>
Agresti and Reid “Gun Control Facts.”WWW.just facts.com,
November 11th 2012. February 18th 2013
<http://www.justfacts.com/guncontrol>
