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Introduction
The debate surrounding possession and control of firearms has been ongoing in the United States for a long time. One side of the argument claims that owning weapons leads to increased gun violence while the other side asserts otherwise. Some firearms have been outlawed, but they continue to be used. There have been divergent views regarding the ownership of some dangerous guns from the public and owners of those weapons.
Main body
In the past, the federal assault weapons ban did not allow some munitions in the United States. Watkins et al. (2018) elaborate on the AR-15 rifle that was once not allowed in private hands but has grown to be a staple household item in the country, which has come with mixed fortunes, both positive and negative. Similar firearms have been manufactured using the same technology, but the bottom line is that they have increased gun violence. For this reason, the article by Watkins et al. (2018) suggests relaxing the ban on AR-15 production and focusing more on determining the number of people owning them to be regulated. The reason is that it has become a weapon of mass destruction.
The number of firearms held in the hands of the people is unknown. In her article, Hsu (2018) explains the difficulty of accounting for the number of guns in people’s hands since it is almost impossible to find their actual sales. The reason for this challenge is what she calls foggy reporting loopholes and standards due to a lack of a nationwide registry for tracking gun sales and ownership. There has been resistance to adopting a countrywide system to track these records. Therefore, this article suggests implementing a stricter gun-tracking method without infringing on Second Amendment rights.
The AR-15 has strong popularity in the United States. Healy (2018) illustrates the love the owners, including gunmen, have for it. The article reports people’s slaughter scores in Parkland, Las Vegas, and San Bernardino. Those in possession of the AR-15 expressed their obsession with the gun by calling it such sweet names as “my baby” (Healy, 2018). Most owners are proud of having had and used it for many purposes. Elsewhere, the same weapon was used in the mass shooting of 17 educators and students at South Florida high school (Healy, 2018). Therefore, the article states that, because the AR-15 has been controversial and labeled an assault rifle, its ownership should be controlled.
There is a need to make gun control measures stricter. According to Blow (2018), the current push to control guns ownership is aiming low. Despite the mass shootings and assaults, there has been no practical response to these incidents because of political intransigence to pass the much-needed regulations. Gunmakers and their supporters insist that calling their products assault weaponries is unfair even though their marketing is done with military imagery, which Yamane et al. (2020) call targeted advertising. One firearms business lost much when the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled that a gunman had used a weapon, which they manufactured and distributed, on his rampage using 154 rounds. The weapon had the AR-15 style, which is “marketed as a weapon of war” (Blow, 2018, para. 5). Still, many people argued against this ruling, indicating much gun violence is entrenched and embraced in America. Therefore, this article calls for a keener regulation of the ownership and use of rifles.
The articles, “How Many Guns Sold” and “I’m a Very Proud Owner” have some similarities. The first one is that both emphasize that an unknown number of firearms are in the hands of ordinary citizens. Healy (2018) recalls the events vividly before the massacre of 17 students and teachers at the South Florida High School. Even before this incident, more gun owners were still exploring the ways of owning more improved and dangerous weapons. Moreover, both articles also allude to the fact that not all firearm owners view the issue of gun possession from the same point of view because most of them still highly value their right for having rifles.
Americans have broad exposure to weapons, with the popular one turning out to be the AR-15 rifle. The two articles also hint at the great division that exists between gun owners and those not possessing weapons. The issue of purchasing guns from unlicensed dealers also comes out clearly from the two articles. Healy (2018) states that some people prefer to buy firearms from unlicensed operators. This has made it difficult to track the exact number of guns in circulation.
The most interesting article is “I’m a Very Proud Owner” as it has raised specific issues which should be addressed. In this article, Healy (2018) brings out three main points. The first one is that the story of the mass shooting of 17 educators and students did not remain in the headlines for the expected period. Second, after the event, not much political action was undertaken. The last issue is that mass school shootings no longer appear as shocking as they used to be (The Editorial Board, 2019). These are all indicators of how gun violence is acceptable to continue in America. In typical instances, massacres should lead to heated gun control debates. This article challenges the adverse effects of the AR-15 rifle and similar firearms.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the fact that most of the articles emphasize the need to control the possession of firearms means that actions should be taken. The recent mass shootings and massacres in schools and streets strengthen the push for this regulation. A national tracking grid is one way the objective can be achieved. The government can listen to both sides of the rifles’ control debate and formulate working policies to ensure an inclusive gun culture in the United States.
References
Blow, C. M. (2018). America is the gun. The New York Times. Web.
Healy, J. (2018). ‘It’s one of the greatest rifles’: Fans of the AR-15 explain the gun’s appeal. The New York Times. Web.
Hsu, T. (2018). Why it may be impossible to measure the impact of stores limiting gun sales. The New York Times. Web.
The Editorial Board. (2019). American gun culture goes on trial. The New York Times. Web.
Watkins, A., Ismay, J., & Gibbons-Neff, T. (2018). Once banned, now loved and loathed: How the AR-15 became ‘America’s rifle’. The New York Times. Web.
Yamane, D., Yamane, P., & Ivory, S. L. (2020). Targeted advertising: Documenting the emergence of gun culture 2.0 in guns magazine, 1955-2019. Humanities and Social Sciences Communication, 6, 61.
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