The right to bear arms has never been stronger than at the turn of the 21st century, when, with the expiration of a federal assault weapons ban, the Supreme Court for the first time interpreted the Second Amendment’s “militia,” as applying to civilians, and states relaxed their concealed weapon laws (Record).
The government attempts to solve the increasing gun violence we have in America by restricting certain types of guns from being purchased. A 2003 report suggested that states that restrict assault weapons have the lowest per capita homicide rates. Yet individuals already own millions of assault weapons; the federal ban does not include a plan to confiscate them. The government has no way of going door to door to seize assault firearms from Americans who bought them while it was legal at one point in time. Furthermore, no state alone can correct the problem because firearms are nearly abundant in interstate and international commerce (Record). Guns are long-lived capital assets. The stock of privately owned firearms in the United States is large relative to annual sales. Firearms are passed down through generations of family members. They are bought and sold, traded, parted out, and given away among friends, acquaintances, and strangers. It would be difficult, if not impossible, to constrain and regulate the transfer of firearms between non-dealer private parties (Moorhouse).
One major problem with current gun control laws is the fact that these statutes are poorly enforced as well as have several loopholes within them. Even though gun policies can be put in place, that does not mean they are successful. The effectiveness of a particular gun control law depends not only on its being on the books but the degree to which the law is enforced. Two jurisdictions may have the same gun control statute but experience very different effects, because in one of the jurisdictions little effort is devoted to enforcing the regulation. Enforcement of gun laws must be taken into account in order to accurately assess gun control (Moorhouse).
While most states have background checks as a part of their gun policies, prohibited persons can easily avoid background checks by purchasing from unlicensed, secondhand dealers, who frequent gun shows. Moreover, 19 states issue “Brady permits” allowing licensed sellers to waive background checks. 7 states, like Mississippi and New York, do not exclude mentally ill individuals from purchasing firearms. Background check enforcement is nearly nonexistent; in 2010, 80,000 Americans were caught falsifying a firearm application, but only 44 were prosecuted (Record).
One major group that gun control wants to withhold their right to bare arms are individuals with mental illnesses. The government has a database, NICS, set up to collect the names of individuals who should be restricted from owning firearms. The problem is that the verification system is inaccurate and incomplete, with many prohibited persons never entered into the NICS database. The Court has ruled that Congress cannot force states to report prohibited individuals. Consequently, some states over report, such as mental health cases, whereas others underreport. Also, as of 2007, 28 states did not report inpatients with mental illness, and 17 have reported fewer than 10 mental health records since the database’s creation. The Government Accountability Office estimates that NICS’s mental illness data fall short by 2 million individuals. The Obama administration wants to invest $20 million to incentivize states to report, but states with the greatest firearms trade may choose not to comply (Record).
Gun Control and Violence 