Gun Restriction Proposals: How Have We Gotten Here?

           One of the most popular debated topics for Congress in recent months has been the creation of stricter gun laws. Recently, there have been a myriad of precursors that have lead to this strong push for gun restrictions. The first occurred on January 8, 2011 with the shooting of Arizona U.S. House Representative Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson, Arizona. Fortunately, she was lucky enough to survive and create the initial push for the laws. The next tragedy occurred on July 20, 2012 in Colorado, where a gunman came into the screening of The Dark Night and opened fire, killing 12 and injuring over 50 others. The most recent occurrence of gun-related tragedy occurred on December 12, 2012 with the shootings at an elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut. This tragedy that killed 28 individual was the last straw for many of the nation’s lawmakers.

            With the media and the public pressing for restrictions in wake of this horrific tragedy, many politicians began to reopen the debate on stricter gun laws. Many of the main proponents, such as President Obama himself, argue that the stricter gun laws will overall help to prevent unnecessary deaths that occur from gun violence. In his most recent State of the Union Address, the President called for Congress to work together to ensure that tragedies such as the one at Sandy Hook Elementary School do not happen again. Since his address, Congress slowly began to open up debate for the new restrictions that could make the law feasible. Although many hold this opinion, some argue that there is no need for restrictions. This causes proponents of the bill to make sure that both parties can support the bill.
            The most recent revelations that have taken place in Congress was a new bill proposal that would place background checks on all gun purchases. However, this law had trouble getting passed because the Republican party is not in favor of strict restrictions on guns.  Joe Braun, a Ph.D student here at Maryland, believes that it may go even deeper than that. When asked what it would take for the bill to become a bi-partisan cause, he said that it is not parties that are the issue but lobbyist groups. He feels that organizations such as the NRA are responsible for the public's growing fear of gun restrictions and are heavily lobbying Congressmen to vote against such restrictions.

            As of last week, the governor of Connecticut signed into law the state’s own bill for stricter gun laws, which included bans on over 100 different types of guns. This week, Congress has begun to open up debate on their own federal bill for the gun laws to be put in place. However, there is still a long way to go before the bill is finally decided.

          Some people believe that the new gun laws are being put in place because of the increasing media attention. Joe Braun believes that it is important for the state governments to take charge in trying to get gun legislation passed.