Running Head: GUN CONTROL REFORM 1

Gun Control Reform and American’s

Refusal to Acknowledge a Problem

Lindsay G. Hamilton

Nevada State College

Gun Control Reform and American’s

GUN CONTROL REFORM 2

Refusal to Acknowledge a Problem

Gun violence has become a critical issue in American society. It seems as if everyday, a

new story breaks about a fatal shooting. People are dying; yet, the government has not done

much about it. That is a flaw in our bipartisan system-- nobody is willing to compromise. It is

only their way or no way. The well being of American citizens is being disregarded in order to

maintain the petty power grab that politicians are constantly vying for. The Columbine High

School Massacre of 1999 is the most notable incident of a mass shooting in the United States

considering that it has become a “script” for copy cat events (The Washington Post). Since the

1999 Columbine shooting, very little has been done to resolve the issue of gun violence, and it

seems that these incidents of mass shootings are getting more frequent considering there have

been 283 incidents since the beginning of 2019 (CBS News). Part of the reason for the lack of

action in regards to gun regulations is that one single reason for the cause cannot be pinned

down, but America can utilize other countries reform policies to help curb this epidemic in the

meantime, as politicians search for other possible solutions.

Discussion

Many are unable to determine the cause of mass shootings and gun violence. Some blame

mental health, others blame violent video games, and some see the gun itself as the issue. This is

causing problems because people are not considering all possibilities when looking for a

solution. The most efficient way to solving the issue of gun violence is by dissecting the possible

reasons for why it happens, and exploring the effectiveness of the solutions being proposed.

Why Americans are Obsessed with Guns

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The United States has a unique historical background that plays an essential role in the

mindset of its citizens. The American dream has been built on mistrust, and that embedded

mistrust is what is fueling gun advocacy to this day. Also the media’s depiction of violence is

causing a desensitization in favor of obtaining money. Elisabeth Waugaman’s psychoanalytic

inquiry, “Understanding America’s Obsession with Guns: How Did We Get Where We are?”

explores the historical implications that plays a role in how modern gun advocates think.

The Historical Mistrust. The American Revolutionary war has set the tone for the

American mindset with the distrust of the government. Due to American’s fear of a strong

government that will take away their representation and their freedom, the second amendment

allows citizens to be able to defend themselves against a possible tyrannical government

uprising. However, the second amendment took a turn from arming for a militia, to arming for

self protection after World War I. At the end of World War I, military grade weapons starting

infiltrating the public domain due to an increase in mafia activity. People’s distrust turned from

the government, to their neighbors. Elisabeth Waugaman identifies the mistrust towards what she

calls “the other.” This “other” represents the people that are different than the demographic of

the majority in America. In the 1700s the other was the Native Americans, in the 1800s it was

the African Americans, in 2001 it was the Muslims, and in 2008 it was the Latinos. The issue

that is being brought to attention is that Americans constantly need to blame someone for things

that go wrong due to the “fragmentation and polarization that has caused many Americans to

lose respect for others simply because they don’t think the same way we do” (Waugeman). This

lack of respect causes people to not be willing to compromise, and when you do not respect

someone, it does not matter how you treat them because, to you, they are less, and that provides

for a dangerous mindset that opens paths to harming others.

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The Movie Industry’s Role. Most citizens only consider violent video games as the

cause of desensitization to violence; however, Elisabeth Waugeman brings up an industry that

has been influencing culture for about a hundred years, the movie industry. The movie industry

provides an outlet for people to visualize something that is almost a reality but just cannot break

the realm of being fictional, “America has become obsessed with with guns as an image of

themselves-- their dysfunction and their fantasy that guns represent an easy solution for ongoing

social and personal issues” (Waugeman). People are taking these stories that are being created in

the confides of movie magic and relating it to real life. Movies can be considered dangerous

because they are so real, and people begin to fantasize the story being created as an escape from

their reality. Movies serve as a visual example for someone to solve their issues in a quick and

easy manner.

Solutions that Politicians are Suggesting

The United States has a plethora of issues that are currently on it’s plate right now. Due

to the controversy that surrounds gun control, and the strict divide over the issue, the gun control

debate is being pushed to the side. Congressmen are unwilling to compromise in the slightest;

but, some ideas are being bounced around.

Increased Mental Health Funding. In Rhonda K. Lewis and Mai Huynh’s academic

journal, “Mental health provision, religion, politics, and guns: college students express their

concerns,” they bring up a proposed action plan to limit gun violence made by Obama in 2013,

after the Sandy Hook shooting. In this grant, $100 million dollars would be given to help fund

mental health services in rural areas, which was made possible by the Affordable Care Act of

2010 (National Council for Behavioral Health). In the study conducted by Lewis and Huynh,

“81% of college students support an improved mental health care system.” A mental health care
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system would not only benefit the issue of curbing gun violence, but it can help everyone live a

healthier life and improve their coping skills. Congress reaches an issue in funding a mental

health care system and obtaining public support because government intervention is not

supported by many Americans who believe that health care should be a privatized expenditure.

They run into issues regarding how to find the money for a mental health care system-- do they

increase taxes, or do they cut funding in another department? Whatever path they decide to take,

it is obviously difficult for congressmen to talk about it because they are not willing to meet in

the middle anymore. In the extreme partisan legislative branch, compromise no longer exists.

Closing the Background Check Loophole. Due to the lack of funding in the mental

health care system, many people who are deemed a danger to themselves and society are not

being documented; meaning, these people are still being able to purchase a weapon. One of the

biggest issues that the government is facing in regards to loopholes involves gun shows. At these

gun shows, anyone is able to go up to a vendor and purchase the weapon of their choice. Also

some people even buy a weapon from a private vendor, like a family friend or even over an

online source like ebay. In this case, the private vendors does not have access to the system that

most gun shops have access to, so they do not know who is buying their weapons.

Banning Assault-Style Firearms

This is the most controversial solution to ending gun violence because many question the

reality of this working in America, especially since it would be in defiance to the Second

Amendment, which many are very protective of. However, other countries have banned firearms

all together, and they have a severe decrease in gun violence and mass casualty events.

The Gun Ban in Australia. After a mass shooting in Tasmania, Australia in 1996, the

Australian states voted to pass legislation that would buy back semi automatic weapons. Many
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people credit this as the sole reason why the gun violence rate in Australia is so low. In Michael

Siegals, “Implications of the Australian Experience with Firearm Regulation for US Gun

Policy,” he establishes that Australia had strict gun regulation before the banning of guns was

implemented. This was due to law enforcement being in charge of who was able to own a gun,

and the law that anybody convicted of a crime in the last eight years is not allowed to own a gun.

If the United States had a similar law enforcement system in place, then the amount of homicides

would most likely decrease; however, the United States is a lot larger than Australia. Australia

only has six states compared to the U.S.’s fifty states. We also do not have a federal police force;

all law enforcement is regulated on the state level, so there would be discrepancies between the

power of the police force which would cause the effectiveness of this to be jeopardized. Michael

Siegal stated that the banning of assault style firearms had little effect on the gun violence rate in

Australia because those types of weapons are usually not used in most homicides and suicides.

However, because of that ban, Australia has not had a mass shooting since.

Conclusions and Future Study

In order to effectively reduce the regularity of gun violence in America, the mentality of

the people would need to change. People are so attached to their guns that they refuse to see the

potential for harm that these weapons have. Time and time again, people utter the words, “a gun

cannot pull its own trigger” and “it is not the guns fault, it is the people's fault.” When are people

going to realize that the person behind the gun may be pulling the trigger, but the gun is the one

with the power to cause an immense amount of damage. By taking the initiative to ban semi-

automatic and automatic weapons, it would be making it more difficult for deranged people, who

want to cause harm, to obtain the power to do so. These types of weapons are military grade, and

they do not have a part in civilization. Their sole purpose is to inflict mass casualties in a short
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period of time, and people are being allowed to wield that power. Children are afraid to go to

school, people are afraid to go to festivals, they are afraid to go to bars and clubs, and they are

afraid to go to the grocery store because nothing is being done to protect them. Banning semi-

automatic and automatic weapons will not solve the issue of all cases of gun violence, but it will

make incidents of mass casualties less frequent.

References

Ingolia, Charles. (2013). “Obama Administration Announces $100 Million in Mental Health

Funding.” Capitol Connector, www.thenationalcouncil.org/capitol-

connector/2013/12/obama-administration-announces-100-million-mental-health-funding/.
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Lewis, R. K., & Huynh, M. (2017). Mental health provision, religion, politics, and guns: college

students express their concerns. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 20(8), 756–765.

https://doi.org/10.1080/13674676.2017.1397615

Siegel, M. (2018). Implications of the Australian Experience With Firearm Regulation for US

Gun Policy. American Journal of Public Health, 108(11), 1438–1439.

https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2018.304720

Silverstein, Jason. (2019). “There Have Been More Mass Shootings than Days This Year.” CBS

News, www.cbsnews.com/news/mass-shootings-2019-more-mass-shootings-than-days-

so-far-this-year/.

Strauss, Valerie. (2019). “School Shootings Didn't Start in 1999 at Columbine. Here's Why That

Disaster Became a Blueprint for Other Killers and Created the 'Columbine Generation'.”

The Washington Post, WP Company, 18 Apr. 2019,

www.washingtonpost.com/education/2019/04/18/school-shootings-didnt-start-

columbine-heres-why-that-disaster-became-blueprint-other-killers-created-columbine-

generation/.

Waugaman, E. (2016). Understanding America’s Obsession with Guns: How Did We Get Where

We Are? Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 36(6), 440–453.

https://doi.org/10.1080/07351690.2016.1192381