Firearms Laws and Culture in the United States

Question: Discuss about theFirearms Laws and Culture in the United States. Answer: Introduction The term gun culture when used in the States means beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors pertaining to gun usage amongst civilians. The process of owning a firearm is enshrined in the United States bill of rights whereby these weapons are used in the country for various purposes such as target shooting, recreation, hunting, and self-defense. However, gun politics is polarized between two advocacy groups, the typical conservative who support the firearm holding culture and liberal supporting strict firearm usage. However, the gun culture protected under the U.S constitution has transpired more of a curse than a blessing because there have been numerous incidences that have brought about public outcry. Recently there has been shooting and in one case, the Sandy Hook Elementary shootings that prompted US president Barrack Obama to issue a public statement where he vowed to use whatever powers his office wields to prevent future strategies. Even though such an action step is commendable, policy makers on the other hand disagree on the best course of action to attain such a goal (Blau, Gorry, Wade, 2016). It is on the 16th of January that the president proposed an updated strategy to minimize on gun violence, and it included new background check requirements and also enhancing education and enforcement of existing state gun laws, and prohibition of high capacity magazines. There are numerous debates on recent widespread public shootings even though certain stakeholders point to mental illnesses even though no viable truth. Policy makers believe that with an emphasize on strict gun laws such acts of violence can be significantly reduced while other believe that site specific security could have deterred the careless shootings. However, the situation is still very different to counter considering the fact that each state has its existing gun laws. A federal law would be more appropriate. To begin with, when proper laws are enacted by the federal government, guns would be beyond the reach of individuals likely to commit offences. Secondly, the amendments would provide a more selective and targeted approach to a prohibited individual than the current system. Recently, congress added people who are not allowed to carry weapons and these are any person with a domestic violence misdemeanor record. The law also prohibits addicts of any controlled substance and such a move is likely to criminalize the possession of firearm to people using forms of addictive substances such as Marijuana and other hard drugs (Sigel Rodman, 2014). Therefore to acknowledge that gun ownership is embedded on the American culture, it is proper to consider how such form of politics manifests in culture and myth. Even though firearm ownership is enshrined in the constitution, it is also fair to consider how the ownership value has embedded itself culturally, and how the citizens perceives themselves while the rest of the globe is watching them tear each other apart. Thus we cannot say that gun ownership is a culture that Americans should be passionate about since it is taking more lives and more so lives of the innocent people. Works Cited Blau, B. M., Gorry, D. H., Wade, C. (2016). Gun, Laws and Publish shootings in the United States . Routledge: Taylor Francis . Sigel, M., Rodman, E. F. (2014, June). Firearm ownership and suicide rates Among US Mena dn Women, 1981-2013.