A Snapshot of U.S. Gun Control Legislation (Or Lack Thereof)

graphic by samantha currier

Well, two mass shootings in one week and President Biden has finally made the brilliant declaration that we should ~probably~ ban assault rifles! Thanks Joe!! Glad it took hundreds of innocent people dying to recognize that! BUT we guess we have to count our blessings because at least the recognition has actually happened? UGH. Yes. 

Joe Biden has announced that the U.S. should ban assault rifles and high-capacity magazines at the federal level. Now, we need action. 

It was a little over three years ago, on February 14, 2018, that the Marjory Stoneman Douglas school shooting took 17 lives. The next day, millions of adolescents showed up to public school anyway. But this time, we were wondering where we would hide or how we would fight. Our worst fears were becoming more and more probable. 

March for our Lives rallies happened frequently and many felt passionately called to this issue. Remember David Hogg and Emma González? Yeah, they’re still fighting for gun reform. This fear of mass school shootings has been pushed to the backseat as BLM and conversations of systemic institutional racism take the wheel - and we are by NO means disregarding the importance of that battle as well - but school shootings are not just going to vanish. 

President Biden promised in his campaign to completely ban the manufacturing and sale of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. He also wanted to require background checks for all gun sales (like, duh?). While there are many other laws Biden intends to pass, his overall hope is that America can have 100% of firearms sold be smart guns. These require a fingerprint upon usage. This would do wonders to protect the lives of people in this country... And it would help us sleep at night. 

Many people who oppose gun control claim to be “okay” with powerful weaponry (that is legit meant for war) being in the hands of any schmuck who wants one. Their argument is that if we banned assault weapons, people would still have them from before. However, in Joe Biden’s presidential campaign, he promised to buy them off of people who already own them, or they have to register them under the National Firearms Act. So it is time for action, President Biden! Let’s not leave those campaign promises empty. 

Gun control legislation is necessary and needs to be prioritized. There is no reason for a weapon that is used in war to be stored in a random man’s house. What does he need it for except to inflict death? The mass shooting in Boulder did not have to happen; the mass shooting in Atlanta did not have to happen. While it may be the human that ultimately pulls the trigger, the gun itself is what stops hearts from beating. 

America has a gun problem that is brought upon by laws that don’t do anything to prevent it. Let’s face it. The little document we use to make all our damn decisions was made up by a few white guys in 1776. If we know anything, it is not to trust solely the white man in making big decisions.

The second amendment has made it so for every 100 people that live in America, there are 120 guns (like how the fuck does that add up?). We are the only nation in the world to even break 100. The closest is the Falkland Islands, with 62 per 100. Cool! 

This nation has already lost far too many lives in the past year due to the coronavirus. President Biden needs to STEP the f*ck up and do what he said would be done: Outlaw. Assault. Weaponry. We will never be safe until he follows through.