American Gun Violence on the World Stage

“A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed,” (U.S. Const. am. 2). In the past few years, no other Constitutional Amendment has come under as much scrutiny as the Second Amendment has. For years now, we’ve debated over what the Founding Fathers meant when they gave us this right, as we also take in what life was like at the beginning of our country and compare it to what life is like now. With the recent events that took place February 14^th, 2018 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the pressure made by the public for there to be stricter gun laws is now calling our government to do something.

While the situation itself is a domestic issue, citizens from foreign States have made their voices known on the issue also, and American’s who are arguing for the United States government to enforce laws are using statistics from other countries and the legislations passed when gun violence did occur to persuade our government that it is possible to regulate gun violence. My argument is that, because we are voicing the strength of how other countries have dealt with this issue and calling the United States government out on ignoring it, this will make the government more likely to listen and take the matter at hand more seriously. That is because this issue has now been put before the world stage, instead of just the national one. Based on the evidence that we have seen on the issue, what is important here is understanding the different interpretations of the Second Amendment, the statistics of gun violence in the United States, and how it compares to countries like the United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan, and most importantly how they have treated their own issues with guns in a way that the United States has not.

There has always been to polar opposites when it comes to this issue. Those who when the read it, say that the Second Amendment still applies to today, and others who say that the purpose of the Second Amendment was only created because it was during a time where the United States had no formal or regulated army to protect the young nation. This has been one of the many reasons why the discussion about gun control has always been such a tense topic, especially in the last few years. Gun owners fear that their right to own a gun will be taken away or the difficult hoops that they would have to jump through to own a gun. This were pro-gun laws come in, asking if avoiding the inconvenience is worth a life of another person. There is no doubt that in the coming days, weeks, and months, these two opposing sides will be butting heads all over the United States.

Since the Florida school shooting on February 14^th, Americans, the media, and citizens around the world have called the U.S. out for not addressing gun violence, and they have resorted to using comparisons between the United States and other countries. In one video, which was circulating through the media shortly after the shooting, a German citizen discusses his understanding of owning a gun, because having and owning a gun is a prominent part of German culture, similar to America. The difference is that the German government enforces gun laws. He points out that Americans have often times said that they need a gun to defend themselves, but in Germany, the government has made it clear to their citizens that it is the governments job to protect them. When mass shootings had taken places, the German government tightened laws on gun security. In the last 18 years, Germany has only dealt with three mass shootings, and each time the government responded.

Overall, this topic is a difficult, but important one that needs to be discussed, and I believe that as we see citizens from other countries promoting gun laws in the U.S. and Americans keep pointing out the severity of the statistics, we can create a real change for future people to come. Addressing that while the Founding Fathers gave us the right to bear arms they had no idea what future weaponry would entail and the need to regulate it. As one of the students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas, Emma Gonzalez, said: “The guns have changed and the laws have not.” We will make this change happen.