Madison Kwiecinski 

News Editor 

Mvk5945@psu.edu 

The United States is one of the only developed countries in the world who refuses to handle gun laws on a national level, due to uncontrollable controversy over U.S. gun policy. Canada and Mexico, which border the United States, consistently issue complaints to the U.S. because the majority of crimes committed in their countries that involve gun violence can all be traced back to guns that come from the U.S. 

Any time gun control is discussed, people jump straight to assuming their rights are being stripped away. But, that is not the case and it is not even what they are really upset about.

The second amendment is the legal basis many pro-gun activists use to justify unregulated firearms among civilian populations. However, the second amendment can be interpreted one of two ways, and historically was not used as justification for individual gun use until around the 2000s. 

The Second Amendment of the United States Constitution reads, “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, that right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed” 

For the better part of U.S. history, this amendment was taken to mean that states have a right to have a militia, as a form of check and balance on the federal government who has an army. This interpretation makes sense because our founding fathers clearly aimed to leave a level of power with the states. 

Additionally, when the Constitution was written, guns did not exist in the same way they do today. School shootings did not occur, AR style weapons did not exist, and they never could have imagined the extent of harm that guns would cause in society. 

That is not to say guns do not have benefits, nor to argue anyone should be inherently against them in all forms. Many countries in the world allow citizens to have guns, with only a small fraction of the violence that occurs in the U.S. occurring in other countries who permit guns. However, the U.S. has the loosest gun regulations of any developed country, with very few checks existing at the federal level because of political controversy. 

In 2019, Canada had a total of 264 gun murders nationwide, while 14,400 occured that year in the United States. According to the Toronto police, 86 percent of guns confiscated by the police last year were guns illegally smuggled into Canada from the U.S.  Mexico is currently suing U.S. gunmanufactureres for marketing guns in a way that appeals to cartels, murders, and kidnappers because of how many U.S. guns cross the Mexico border every year. 

The U.S. has very few federal gun regulations, and even those that exist tend to have loopholes. For example, it is federally required that all gun manufacturers, importers, and dealers in the gun business get Federal Firearms Licenses (FFL) and that a background check is required for all guns sold by a licensed dealer. However, gun shows exist because they are not required to be licensed dealers, and therefore do not have to make people undergo background checks. Canada and Mexico both have federal gun registries, but the U.S. does not have an equivalent to this. 

Pennsylvania, along with over 20 other states, issues conceal carry permits automatically to anyone who passes a general background check without any extra precautions being taken. Ohio just recently passed a new gun law, which will take effect June 12, 2022, that allows adults ages 21 and over who are legally allowed to own firearms to conceal carry without any form of a permit. This new law eliminates training and background checks, and removes the requirement for gun owners to inform police that they are armed, further increasing danger for citizens and officers alike. 

The political groups who advocate for looser gun laws, despite the U.S. already having some of the most lax gun laws worldwide, are the same people who often actively speaking out against illegal immigration, especially from Mexico.

The irony in this situation stems from the concept that the United States loose gun laws are often the cause of immigration from neighboring countries. For example, the Government Accountability Office, which works for Congress, exists to evaluate policy. In January of this year the GAO was asked by a member of Congress to do a study on the causes of violence in Central American countries that cause large levels of people to migrate to the United States. The study concluded that much of the immigration is due to gun trafficking by gangs and cartels, with guns that are manufactured in the U.S. The study essentially concluded that the State Department is not spending enough money to address U.S. guns causing violence in other countries, and that tightening U.S. gun laws would limit immigration over time. 

The right to bear arms makes sense, virtually unrestricted access to guns that are statistically proven to increase violence within our country, and in other countries, does not. No one wants to take away all of the guns, no one wants to stop hunters from hunting. But common sense gun legislation in order to limit violence and allow access to firearms safely is desperately needed within the U.S. and is essential to public safety.