DeQoded: USA Has Almost as Many Guns as People
Why are there so many guns in the USA and why is it so easy to buy them?
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The 12 June Orlando shootings that killed 50 people, including the gunman is hardly the first of its kind in the United States of America. The country has seen so much gun violence that just the names of some of the places where the incidents took place bring back graphic memories: Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, San Bernardino in 2015 and 2009’s Fort Hood are only a handful in a disturbingly long list.
Why Is There a Spate of Gun Violence in the USA?
There’s a lot of research that shows that the presence of guns increases the chance of violence, be it suicide or homicide. In fact, a study done by researchers at the University of California San Francisco found that those with access to guns are three times more likely to commit suicide and almost twice as likely to be the victim of a homicide when compared to someone who does not have access.
And this isn’t an American phenomenon, a 2013 study conducted across 27 developed countries showed a significant positive correlation between the number of guns per capita per country and the number of firearm related deaths. In short, while it’s people who kill people, guns increase the likelihood of it happening.
And the USA has a lot of guns.
How Many is ‘a Lot’ and Why Are People Buying Them?
According to Time magazine:
NPR reports that the country has over 300 million guns in all. USA’s population is 318.9 million people. Yup, the USA has almost as many guns as it has people.
But not every American has a gun. The country has a strong gun control lobby that is just as vocal as its gun advocates.
One of the arguments made by advocates is that owning a gun helps people protect themselves from others who may want to hurt them. In fact, after the San Bernardino shooting in 2015, gun sales went up.
Another argument is that criminals, terrorists and those wanting to inflict harm will get their hands on guns anyway so why shouldn’t regular people own guns to protect themselves?
But as studies show, just reducing the number of firearms present may actually have positive effects in the direction of reducing violence and gun deaths.
But How Can It Be So Easy to Buy Guns?
Well, you don’t need a government-issued license to own a gun in the USA. So, it’s really not that difficult. As is often cited by pro-women and anti-gun activists, it’s more difficult to buy birth control in America than it is to buy a gun.
Yes, background checks have to be run when a gun is being bought from a store or pawn shop. But several events called “gun shows” take place across the country regularly. These are basically conventions where one can buy a firearm without a background check. Plus, there’s no required check while buying second-hand from friends or family either. Oh and guns are also available online. As simple as ordering groceries, books or clothes – delivered to your doorstep.
The background check itself is pretty threadbare. The store then calls the FBI and runs a check through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System and, voila, in minutes the person is the proud owner of a brand new firearm.
But is Gun Violence Really That Much of a Problem?
In response to that, we’re just going to show you this video:
In the first half of 2016 alone, the country has seen 76 days of shootings and 88 days without. These incidents have led to the death of 207 people. In half a year.
Why Don’t They Just Ban Guns Then?
The pro-gun lobby in the US has long been pushing the argument that guns are a part of American culture. This stems from the idea that early settlers used guns to hunt and, from thereon, firearms continued to be prominently featured as a quintessential idea of Americanism – the shotgun wielding farmer yelling at people to get off his land to the father taking his children hunting on the weekends.
There’s also the Second Amendment. This amendment to the US Constitution was ratified in 1791 to allow for the ownership of firearms to fight British troops in the American Revolutionary War. It states:
The Second Amendment is very often waved around by pro-gun lobbyists as a defence against stricter regulations on gun ownership. But America is no longer fighting a revolutionary war and the country’s crime rates don’t justify this easy ownership of a deadly weapon.
As India’s Section 377 which criminalises homosexuality proves, laws need to change with the times. And the time for unregulated gun ownership in the USA is long past.