Difficulty of Addressing Gun Violence

Gun massacres rose by 183% after 2004, when Congress refused to extend the ban.

M-16 / AR-15 Image courtesy: Jan Helebrant

(SAN FRANCISCO, CA.) - Like many Americans, I am appalled at the level of gun violence in this country. Therefore, I favor reasonable federal gun control measures to limit such violence.

While in the U.S. Army, I was trained in a number of small arms, including the M-16 rifle, the military version of the AR-15. As an officer, I carried a .45 caliber pistol during the Vietnam War.

As a civilian, I never saw the need to own a gun, but I understand that other law-abiding citizens must have their guns.

“AR,” by the way, stands for "ArmaLite rifle," after the company that developed the gun for use by the U.S. military in the 1950s. (The military's version, nearly indistinguishable from the AR-15, is called the M-16.)

“Bump stock” firing is a well-established capability that uses the recoil of a semi-automatic firearm to fire multiple shots in rapid succession.

Background

Over 98% of these guns are in civilian hands, the equivalent of 120 firearms per 100 citizens.

Today, the AR-15 is the best-selling rifle in the United States. According to polling data from The Washington Post and Ipsos, about 1 in 20 U.S. adults — or roughly 16 million people — own at least one AR-15. Today, the industry estimates that at least 20 million AR-15s are stored and stashed across the country.

On March 27, 2023, a shooter killed three 9-year-olds and three adults at the Covenant School, in Nashville, Tenn.

The shooter had legally purchased seven firearms from five local gun stores. Three of those weapons — including two assault-style firearms — were used in the shooting. Including the Nashville shooting, to-date in 2023 there have been at least 39 incidents of gunfire on school grounds, resulting in 17 deaths and 30 injuries.

Gun Control Legislation

Gun massacres fell 37% while the ban was in place, rose by 183% after the ban expired.

The 1997 Dickey Amendment prohibited the use of federal funds to "advocate or promote gun control," leading to the elimination of all CDC funding to conduct firearm-related research -- limiting what we know today about gun violence.

The 2003 Tiart Amendments amendments prohibit the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) from releasing firearm trace data. They require the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to destroy all approved gun purchaser records within 24 hours.

The Tiahrt Amendments also prohibit the ATF from requiring gun dealers to submit inventories to law enforcement.

Finally, in 2019, Congress reached a deal to fund research on gun violence for the first time in over two decades, allocating $25 million — split evenly between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health — each year.

In 2022, congress passed the very modest Bipartisan Safer Communities Act to help states administer red flag laws; closes the so-called boyfriend loophole by barring individuals from possessing a firearm for at least five years if they are convicted of a misdemeanor crime of violence involving a current or former romantic partner; enhances background checks for gun purchasers between the age of 18 and 21(but not those older); and makes obtaining firearms through straw purchases or trafficking a federal offense.

The Act also provides about $11 billion to improve mental health programs. While money for mental illness programs is needed considering that less than half of Americans with a mental disorder get adequate treatment.

It is unlikely, however, that the Act will noticeably curb the gun violence in this country. Jeffrey Swanson, a psychiatry professor at the Duke University School of Medicine who studies the intersection of gun violence and mental illness said of the Act, "It’s kind of a gun safety law wrapped in a mental health bill.”

It is unfair to blame those suffering from mental illness for the cause of gun violence in this country as research shows that of all the violence that occurs in the United States, 96% is due to risk factors other than mental illness. In fact, people with mental illness are far more likely to be the victims of violence than perpetrators of violence.

Court Cases

However, this does not mean that federal and state governments cannot pass and enforce gun control laws. In fact, most gun control laws have been found to be valid after this Supreme Court decision

However, in 2022, the present conservative Supreme Court’s decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Assoc. v. Bruen striking down a New York concealed handgun law makes further gun control laws iffy at best.

Following the Bruen case ruling, a federal court district judge in San Diego is expected to rule again in Bonta v. Miller that California’s assault weapon ban is unconstitutional. This case is notable for the Court’s comparison of an assault rifle to a Swiss Army knife.

Gun Violence as a Public Heath Issue

Congress should embrace science in the fight for gun-law reform. Unfortunately, too many politicians view gun violence as senseless, random, or an unsolvable issue.

With adequate resources to study and fight gun violence not as a constitutional issue, but as a public health epidemic. The World Health Organization already considers violence a public health threat, whether a firearm is involved or not.

Days after the deadly mass shooting in Orlando, Florida, the American Medical Association adopted a policy calling gun violence in the U.S. "a public health crisis.”

Congress should start with a Congressional ban of AR-15-type semi-automatic weapons (with buy-back provisions), safe gun storage laws and universal background checks. No self-respecting sportsman would use an assault rifle to hunt quail, deer or even a bear.

Assault weapons are designed for the military to kill enemy combatants. Banning assault weapons is no more a limit on the Second Amendment than a ban on a citizen’s right to own surface-to-air missiles, land mines or hand grenades.

Gun Control the third Rail of Politics

Regrettably, gun control measures have become the third rail of politics, especially among Republican politicians.