Gun control is an effort to fight violent crime by strengthening laws on the ownership of firearms. The use of a gun in a crime is more likely to result in a person’s death than is the use of most other kinds of weapons, including knives. Many people own guns for the protection of their home, for use in hunting or target shooting, or for other legitimate reasons. Gun control laws aim to reduce the criminal use of guns as much as possible and, at the same time, to interfere as little as possible with other gun use.
Approaches to gun control.
The federal government and all U.S. states have some gun control laws. These laws use two main approaches to reducing gun violence. The first involves keeping high-risk people from obtaining firearms. The second prohibits high-risk guns from being acquired by anyone but the police.
High-risk people are those whom authorities consider most likely to misuse firearms. They include alcoholics, drug addicts, mentally unbalanced people, and people with criminal records. Federal and state laws prohibit these people from owning guns. The laws also prohibit sales of firearms to minors.
In the United States and other countries, laws have been adopted to give law enforcement officials a chance to make sure the buyer is not a high-risk person. For example, some U.S. communities require a person who wishes to own a gun to first get a license. In 1993, the U.S. Congress passed the “Brady bill,” which made gun buyers go through a waiting period of five working days between the time they purchased a handgun (revolver or pistol) and the time they took possession of it. In 1998, new federal legislation replaced the waiting period with a requirement that gun buyers undergo background checks prior to purchasing a handgun, rifle, or shotgun. Under Canadian law, first-time gun buyers must wait 28 days to buy a gun. Moreover, in 1995, Canada’s Parliament voted to require all gun owners to license and register their guns. Many European countries also require handguns to be licensed or registered. But enforcement of the European laws varies greatly.
High-risk firearms are those considered more likely to be misused than ordinary firearms. Since 1934, for example, U.S. federal law has placed special restrictions on machine guns—which can fire many bullets with a single pull of the trigger—and sawed-off (short-barreled) shotguns. A law passed by Congress in 1994 banned the sale of semiautomatic assault weapons. Such weapons can quickly fire many bullets and include features usually associated with military weapons. The ban lasted for 10 years, but it was not reauthorized by Congress. It expired in 2004.
Some communities have passed laws to restrict the ownership of handguns by ordinary citizens. Backers of such laws argue that handguns are involved in many accidental shootings and have little value in household self-defense. Until the 1990’s, most states prohibited ordinary citizens from carrying concealed guns. Since 1987, however, many states have adopted laws that allow their citizens to obtain licenses to carry concealed guns. In the late 1990’s, several local governments in the United States began to sue gun manufacturers for the effects of violence committed with guns.
Opposition to gun control.
People opposed to gun control argue that taking guns from law-abiding citizens does not prevent the possession of guns by criminals. People who oppose licensing, waiting periods, and background checks argue that legitimate gun owners must pay the cost of the procedures, bear their inconvenience, or both. Opponents of laws forbidding concealed weapons argue that criminals are less likely to commit crimes if they think their victims may be armed.
Some U.S. citizens argue that gun control laws violate their right to own guns. Many of these people claim this right is guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The amendment reads: “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.” In 1939, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the amendment does not prohibit most gun control laws. In 2008, however, the Supreme Court declared that the Constitution protects an individual’s right to own a gun for self-defense as well as for hunting. The ruling made bans on private ownership of handguns unconstitutional.
