Introduction

This blog seeks to explore solutions to gun violence while still preserving the people's right to bear arms. The problem that seems to be plaguing the country is how to control gun violence without taking away the people’s freedom. We will focus on 3 main solutions; gang control, stricter background checks, and standardizing state laws.

To Reduce Gun Violence, Focus on Gang Violence

Recently, the nation has been awash with reports of gun violence. Many readers have heard about the tragic mass shootings at Sandy Hook and in Aurora, Colorado, and, more recently, some at BYU may even have received an email urging students to watch a video on preventing gun violence on college campuses. 

Although these particular events are shocking to hear about, gang crimes and violence cause much more harm throughout the country, particularly within the inner-cities.

Background checks?

Gun control is a problem currently on the national headlines; one solution that would help would be to tighten up the running of background checks for gun sales or transfers to where it is required for all transactions, except for private family sales. My proposal is to institute laws that require that a background check be run for every gun transaction and to make the punishments for breaking the law more extreme.

Now I am not your normal American young man. I was born and raised with guns all around me and also with a lot of guns in my local community. My high school was one where every pickup you saw had at least 2 guns in the back window and that was perfectly normal. Most people would not expect there to be much gun crime here but there is.

In this town of about 2000 people, in the last ten years, there have been many gun accidents, including accidental self-inflicted wounds as well as two gun related murders. One of those murders was because a son got made at his dad and took his rage out by shooting him many times.

The crazy thing is that most guns in my small town were sold by private sellers or at gun shows so that most people that obtained these guns never had to go through a background check. Just think, if it’s like this in a small town, what about the big cities? How can we solve this problem?

According to articles by the NRA most people that commit gun related crimes never went through a background check to get their gun. Where do they get there guns? Well, a lot get them from friends, others from family members, and others from local gun shows, and none of these processes require a background check.

Now, there is not a snowball's chance in hell that you will ever be able to regulate the background checks of sales or transfers done in families because the government doesn't have enough resources to do so and in my opinion would probably start a rebellion. This happens a lot even in my family, we had about 10 gun transfers or sales in about 3 years. 

On the other transactions or sales, though, it is very possible to have the government implement laws to regulate the sale and transfer of guns for any transaction minus family ones. These laws would make it illegal to have and kind of gun show or sale or anything to do with gun transfers without requiring the buyer to have a background check ran on them. It might be rough at first getting it going, but it will work.  

As well, the government should implement harsher punishments for breaking these crimes. If the punishment for breaking this crime is similar to the crimes that it leads to, I believe that it will make many people avoid it, and then they don’t even have to get to the worse crime. Also, those that are caught breaking this one won’t be around to break the other.

Interstate Gun Control- What’s the problem?

When the founders of the constitution wrote the second amendment giving the citizens the freedom to bear arms, what was their intention? Why was this so important in the document that would define the future of the entire country? As history has shown, humans are prone to use forceful means to attempt to control others. This amendment then gives all citizens the liberty to defend themselves against coercion and force. When states attempt to change this amendment, it creates an inconsistency through the nation and generates instability.