"Gun control in the United States", even if the entire territory of the United States is stained with blood, the United States will not give up guns.
Today let's talk about why the United States can't control guns.
The country is the only country in the world that has the freedom to own guns with almost no restrictions. Anyone can legally possess a firearm if they have U.S. citizenship or permanent residency and no history of mental illness or serious criminal penalties. Even if there is a history of mental illness or serious crime, it can be obtained through black market trading.
There are even 30 states that have no age limit. In 30 states where there are no restrictions, elementary school and kindergarten students are legally allowed to carry firearms. The U.S. is home to about 4% of the world's population, but 40% of the world's small guns are in the U.S. 121 guns per 100 people. This is an overwhelming world first. As a result, firearm-related accidents are also overwhelming. There must have been a lot of people exposed to the news, etc., and the most shocking was the shooting that occurred in the school where the children studied. At the same time, this is also the reason for the US police to crack down on the people.
Because it is not known whether the other party is carrying a firearm, the police officers working at the scene have strong power. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 15,000 people die each year in the United States from weapons, including more than 11,000 from firearms. Especially in the wake of the pandemic, gun killings have skyrocketed, with more than 20,000 Americans killed by guns in 2020 alone. GVA, a nonprofit group in the United States, also released that 42,151 people died in gun accidents in the United States in 2023. Many people die from guns every year in the United States, but why can't the United States have strong gun control?
Gun control in our country is very, very strict. Beyond the strict, it is difficult to see a gun in China. Either you have to be a soldier, or a police uncle, etc., before you can touch a gun or shoot.
In the United States, even families who don't have money or are not interested in guns will buy guns for safety. In particular, in 2020, when the protests over George Floyd's death intensified and blacks began to riot, the number of people buying guns increased significantly. In other words, my safety is protected by me. It's also possible that someone with bad intentions might break into the house and rob with a gun, or I would have a shotgun in the house as well. Especially in communities with poor security, guns are a must. But in reality, the United States is not without the idea of gun control. In the event of a gun-related accident, public opinion in the United States is also increasingly in favor of gun control, and there are many citizens who want to control guns. Especially when there are shootings in schools, the rate of gun purchase also rises significantly.
There are many reasons for this, but the biggest reason is to think that the state you live in now is likely to have gun control, so buying early is also the biggest reason. The reason why the United States still can't control guns after the events every year is because the history and identity of the United States, the law and culture, the administrative system, and other reasons are intricately intertwined, and this phrase often appears on the side that opposes gun control. In fact, there are many people who think this way, and there is nothing wrong with this kind of thinking. As a result, the percentage of people in the polls who support regulation temporarily rises after the shooting, but it will soon reverse again. The freedoms and rights that symbolize the United States, the pride of the United States, are violated by the government, which the Americans absolutely cannot tolerate. The most straightforward reason why guns cannot be regulated is history. In the history of the United States, guns have never been absent. The United States is a country that built its country on guns and pioneered and developed by guns.
War of Independence
Historically, the United States has carried guns in the process of independence from the British colonies, the conflict with the indigenous people during the western development period, the encounter with the beast of prey, and the journey of survival. Now when the United States is a colony in Britain, the United States has experienced the so-called War of Independence from Britain with guns. So in the United States, guns are a project that symbolizes liberal democracy and American independence and nationhood. How much the United States values guns can be seen in the U.S. Constitution. The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution clearly states: "A well-disciplined militia force is necessary for the security of a Free State, and therefore the right of the people to keep and bear arms is inviolable." This can be said to be an article that inherits the history of the solidarity of the colonists in the past with guns in hand for freedom. In some states, the prohibition of carrying firearms has been ruled unconstitutional on the basis of Article 2 of the Revised Court Act.
U.S. Constitution
After the 2012 Sandy Hawk shooting, Connecticut, Maryland, and New York issued executive orders banning the purchase of rifles, but the courts ruled invalid. Do you probably understand the meaning of this story? That is, in order for nationwide gun control in the United States, the Constitution must be amended. Under the U.S. Constitution, a two-thirds majority of the Senate and House of Representatives is required to amend the Constitution, but the likelihood of meeting the criteria is very slim without major accidents. The argument often made by those in favor of gun restrictions is that Article 2 of the Constitution was amended by the standards of the past, and therefore should be interpreted differently in today's changing times. But in the end, if the constitution is not amended, there is a good chance that this proposition will not prevail over the opponents of gun control. If you want to strongly oppose gun control, you have to risk your accumulated professional and political career, which is one of the reasons why you can't oppose it. In the United States, poor areas are more opposed to gun control than in urban areas, rural areas, and wealthy areas.
But in the United States, there are more rural districts than cities, and there are more people in rural areas than in cities. In addition, since there are radical armed groups in American society that support the expansion of gun ownership, politicians are also threatened if they come forward to try to change the Constitution. Even if the constitution is amended, it will not be easy to regulate. Controlling firearms means recovering all of the 350 million guns officially recorded. This is just the official data. This means that the government needs to go to every household to reclaim the guns owned by individuals, and even if they are recycled in the form of being purchased at the right price, not all of them will comply with the government's policy. Moreover, it is difficult to assess the value of guns that have been handed down from generation to generation. If the government wants to use force to disarm the citizens, the U.S. government will be seen as a dictatorship that oppresses the citizens. This is intolerable in an American society that values individual freedom. There is also the possibility of a large-scale civil war with citizens who oppose the government.