Gun Control

We started watching a film in large group on gun control. A lot of interesting points came up about what should be done about the issue and whether it was an issue at all.

Guns were considered critical for survival in the past and in order to survive you had to be armed. Many people regarded guns as a symbol just as the American Eagle because they've been around since Columbus. It wasn't until after the Civil War that guns became an issue. After the war surviving soldiers were encouraged to keep their guns, this essentially pumped a large number of guns into circulation. Post Civil War was the beginning of gun violence. Guns started to evolve and became easier to use. As a result of making the revolver homicide rates were increasing rapidly. The revolver was small, cheap,portable, easy to make, and you didn't have to keep reloading after each fire. As guns started to evolve and become more deadly their functions were shifting as well from protection and recreation to violence. The role of guns significantly differ in rural areas versus urban areas. In rural areas they're used for recreational purposes. It's a part of their culture, and it's not fair to them that the media portrays all gun owners as bad people. As opposed to urban areas where they're used as a means of protection or violence. In response to the Mulford Act, a law that prohibited carrying loaded fire arms in public, members of the Black Panthers marched on the California Capitol in Sacramento armed with rifles and assault weapons.They were just trying to protect themselves from local and police brutality, they believed the only way to defend themselves was to use the very weapons being used against them. Then you have situations like Sandy Hook, Aurora, gang violence etc... that jeopardizes all gun owners because of the negative effects guns have on the community.The problem is finding a solution without violating the second amendment which protects America from tyranny. I don't think the guns are the problem because just as the video suggested the gun is not the catalyst the violence is and we celebrate violence,we make heroes out of stone killers and simply see them as people who refuse to be pushed around.

http://c.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/common-sense-conservative/2013/jul/22/what-would-reagan-and-black-panther-party-think-gu/

In this article the author interviews a murderer and asks his views on gun control and he responds "I'm all for gun control because that means you won't have a gun and I will always have a gun." This just proves that trying to get rid of guns as a whole is nearly impossible because so many people own guns and probably won't be willing to give them up. I don't think that trying to rid America of guns will solve anything. It will just make people furious and crime will continue, people will still murder but instead of guns they'll find other weapons to kill. The only reasonable solution would be to put restrictions on who can possess a fire arm. Even this comes with many obstacles. Although someone may have no history of violence or problems with the law  doesn't necessarily mean they're not capable of shooting up a school or neighborhood. Gun control is a serious problem that's been around for a long time but hasn't been solved because just thinking of the many variables that are needed to solve it can be overwhelming. I agree with the article that if we don't start to seriously look into this problem we'll be facing this same issue years from now.