Fifty people were killed and 50 injured in two mosque attacks on March 15 in Christchurch, New Zealand. The country immediately imposed gun control measures three days after the incident.
On April 1, New Zealand’s government introduced legislation that would ban most semi-automatic firearms, including the ones used in the Christchurch shootings. The legislation is supported by both party lines and, if passed, will go into effect April 12. In less than 30 days, the government of New Zealand let its people know it cared enough to pass reforms diminishing the threat of gun massacres across their country.
The United States has had numerous mass shootings since 1949, resulting in over 500 fatalities and hundreds of injured victims. These statistics do not embrace the number of gun-related deaths happening across the country daily. Just this week, rapper Nipsy Hussle was shot and killed outside of his Los Angeles clothing store.
Mass shooting, massacre, gun violence: These are words U.S. citizens have become shockingly accustomed to. Sandy Hook, Las Vegas, Stoneman Douglas, Pulse Nightclub and Virgina Polytechnic are only a few of the places that have been terrorized by gun violence in our nation. Many of the shootings were planned, the gunmen using a plethora of weapons including versions of military-style assault rifles. Most of the shooters were mentally unstable.
The U.S. is slow in drafting legislation to ensure gun safety protections for its citizens. A few states have created their own gun safety bills, while others are creating easier access to gun ownership.
President Trump reversed a regulation created during the Obama administration aimed at limiting gun ownership out of the hands of the severely mentally ill. Less than 72 hours after the Parkland School shooting, Trump tweeted of the man being mentally ill, suggesting that something should have been done. The double standard is sickening.
America is besieged by the social and cultural acceptance that guns are useful tools instead of implements of destruction that are meant to inflict pain and kill. Individualism, militarism and nationalism have added to this idea. Unfortunately, American politics is littered with special interest groups whose sole purpose is to stop any significant gun safety reform. Lobbyists work hard to keep their intended politicians on very short leashes. American gun ownership is a type of carte blanche. The less restriction, the more American in ideal.
The Constitution protects our right to bear arms as cited in the Second Amendment. In 1787, when the Constitution was created, our nation had just come out of an eight-year Revolutionary War that included average citizens as part of its front-line defense. The Second Amendment made sense considering the needs at that time. Even now, Americans citizens should have the right to bear arms. They should also have the right to freedom of speech, worship, civil liberties and other forms of self-governance. No one wants the Second Amendment taken away.
All America is asking for is the right to know they will not be murdered by assault-style weapons in their schools, synagogues, churches, theaters, concert halls, nightclubs and universities. Americans should also be celebrating birthdays, not making funeral arrangements after yet another U.S. shooting.
Americans want what New Zealand has, a government that let its people know it cares enough to pass reforms diminishing the threat of gun massacres across their country. This should not be so hard. Americans are not as free as they think they are.
Photo from Bernard Spragg. NZ via Flickr
