With the increased attention being given to mass shooting events in recent years, there has inevitably been multiple visitations to the question of whether or not increased levels of gun control are required. Much of the debate has centered around either the relative availability of guns in the United States, or the quality of mental health diagnostics and care as many of the recent perpetrators have been found to have a history of mental health related issues.
Hugh LaFollette, in his text The Practice of Ethics, highlights several of the formal and informal arguments for and against gun control in contemporary society. Depending upon which data set is examined, one could well thing that more guns leads to more violence, or it might even lead to less. Overall though, he did bring up points to consider on the questions of managing risks versus desires, and brought up argument for and against the nature of gun ownership as a "right" and an aspect of citizenship. Tied to this as well is the question of enforcement...even if guns were banned to a greater degree, there could be additional costs to law enforcement with different levels of effect similar to the experience of Prohibition in the United States (LaFollette, 2007).
Regarding my own opinion, I certainly don't think that an outright ban on weapons is a feasible nor desirable solution. Indeed, for all the comparisons of the United States to Europe with regards to gun ownership relative to the level of violent crime (usually indicating fewer guns leads to fewer crimes), I point to the example of Switzerland as an exception to the typical argument. It is not uncommon to see rifles being carried openly in public by people participating in shooting sports, and depending on the statistics cited, the country ranks third or fourth in number of guns per capita yet has a firearms death rate about one-seventh of the rate of the United States (Nelson, 2013). This isn't to say the country, known for a tradition of their conscripted military forces keeping weapons at home, isn't experiencing its own qualms in recent history. Besides the frequent utilization in suicides, there was one significant shooting attack at the parliament in 2001 (Bachmann, 2012), and another shooting attack at a factory in Lurcene (Nelson, 2013). But there is not overwhelming support for gun control at this time...in February 2011, nearly 57 percent of voters were against weapons storage in armories versus the traditional home system (Nelson, 2013).
Of course, we have to recognize that there is good cause to consider how guns come into the hands of private citizens. The shooting incidents in Newtown, Aurora, Virginia Tech, and Santa Barbara are reminders that there are still gaps in the system, and answers are slow to come. Those such as Richard Martinez, father of one of the Santa Barbara victims, believed that his son died because of the actions of politicians and the NRA, and framed the gun control debate as not one of gun rights, but of the right to live (Stout, 2014). In the months following, California took further action and signed a law allowing relatives to request a court order to remove weapons from the possession of individuals they believe may pose a threat, which gun right advocates believe is an infringement on civil liberties and constitutes denial of due process (Wood, 2014). Those who want gun control have a perfectly valid point in preventing these tragedies from happening again.
This leads to my holistic thought on the situation...we seem to have identified a trend where the people who commit these crimes have some kind of malicious intent with early indicators, or more recently, they're individuals with mental health issues that go untreated or somehow get possession of weapons. The solution, I believe, will lie in a combination of more uniform background checks to ensure individuals are of sound mind and demeanor to be entrusted by society with a weapon, but more importantly I believe there needs to be an education piece. People need to be able to recognize any warning signs of individuals who may lash out at those around them, and have a good idea of immediate action steps to take. I also believe more needs to be done to encourage people afflicted with mental health issues to receive help, although granted, such matters tend to be very personal and require the buy-in of the person involved. Overall, I still believe in the freedom to bear arms, but admittedly, there will be a challenge in plugging the different possible holes in the system of checks and balances, and in bringing the country onto the same page with respect to both gun laws and gun culture.
Resources
Bachmann, H. (2012, December 20). The Swiss Difference: A Gun Culture That Works. In Time. Retrieved December 14, 2014.
Nelson, S. S. (2013, March 19). What's Worked, And What Hasn't, In Gun-Loving Switzerland. In National Public Radio. Retrieved December 14, 2014.
Stout, D. (2014, May 26). Gun-Control Debate Heats Up Following California Shooting. In Time. Retrieved December 14, 2014.
Wood, D. (2014, October 1). Santa Barbara aftermath: how California is breaking new ground on gun control. In Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved December 14, 2014.
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