Every American has the right to possess guns for personal safety and protection, granted by the Second Amendment. However, this freedom functions counterproductively, as it also strips Americans of the right to live in a safe environment. As gun violence increases daily and news of lives lost to bullets spreads across the country, the government must give attention to this widespread issue and encourage, rather than inhibit, states from operating their own gun policies.
A California law banning people from carrying firearms in 26 public places was once again blocked on Jan. 6 by a federal appeals court. The motion reinforced the initial ruling on Dec. 20, as the California Rifle and Pistol Association sued the California government for defying the Second Amendment. Meanwhile, data from the Gun Violence Archives quantifies that on average, a mass shooting occurs every 8.3 days in California.
The blocked law is Senate Bill 2: a new California state law temporarily put into action on Jan. 1, setting restrictions on public gun possession. With the law in place, Californians were banned from bearing arms in “sensitive places,” including parks, hospitals, houses of worship, and other public areas. Gun rights activists filed a lawsuit against the government for its unconstitutionality.
While the Second Amendment was established for the safety and security of Americans, it is exploited to commit excessive violence. Though there are a few California laws that attempt to regulate gun possession, the lack of specificity and stringency neglects the hundreds of thousands whose lives could be spared with clearer gun limits in place.
Countries like Japan, Australia, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Canada currently have up-to-date regulations on gun ownership; as a result, they have significantly lower gun violence rates compared to those of the United States. For instance, Business Insider reports that in 2011, the U.K. had 0.07 gun homicides for every 100,000 people, while the U.S. had 3 gun homicides for every 100,000. By setting clear regulations on gun possession without stripping individuals of the free right to bear arms, historical and modern-day circumstances would meet a point of cooperation.
Though California is currently considered a “leader” in gun control with one of the lowest gun violence rates in the U.S., each legal negation, such as the blocking of Senate Bill 2, moves the state one step backwards from reaching their safety goals. Conversely, each action taken to prevent these dangers will bring America one step closer to a society free of unjust death by bullets.
Modern America is accustomed to daily news of shootings and gun fatalities that citizens commonly fail to recognize the magnitude of the situation: the amount of lives lost or put into total jeopardy. While the U.S. Constitution is crucial to maintaining order in the U.S., authorities must make compromises to reconcile with today’s societal issues.
