Ranvir Thapar Q2 Blog 2 - Guns—Doom, Death, and Despair.
The firearm and ammunition industry in the US is now worth 91 billion dollars as of 2024 (the official number for 2025 has not come out yet). That’s an 11 billion dollar increase in the 2 years compared to 2022 where it was valued at about 80 billion dollars.
Debates over gun control have been at the forefront of American politics for decades now, yet we are still no closer to solving the issue. There have been pieces of legislation such as the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act in 2022 which outlined that states would have increased funding for states to implement crisis intervention programs as well as increased and more cohesive background checks and expanded school safety and mental health resources.
This was described as the “most significant gun safety initiative in 30 years." And this is the problem.
For lack of better words this is a band aid on a bullet hole! The problem isn’t even the lack of power behind the legislation, it is the fact that half of the United States both the government and its citizens alike, refuse to recognize the real problem. The problem isn’t mass shootings or the killing of innocent children, the problem is guns and the lack of regulation and control the government has on the possession and sale of firearms.
America was founded on the idea that its people should have the right to bear arms to protect themselves and yes it WAS a huge part of the American identity. The second amendment was written 1791.
1791 was 234 years ago.
In 234 years since the US has more than tripled its territory, its population has grown by over 300 million people, we have fought two world wars, a cold war, established ourselves as a world super power, and we spent 874 billion dollars on military spending in 2024 which is more than the next 5 behind us combined!
So it begs the question, why do we as citizens need to own guns? Why are some parts of America so stuck in the past and clinging to an outdated way of thought?
It’s a mix of two things, greed and the lack of education. Lots of political donors and Super PAC donors are wealthy men and women who have made their fortunes in the firearm industry and through putting politicians in office they hold a lot of power behind the scenes. The second thing is that the section of America who is pro gun anti regulations are for lack of better words, uneducated. In a study done by the Urban Institute there was a direct correlation drawn between people who were anti gun regulations and the fact that they were directly connected to a lower high school graduation rate.
I could go on to talk about my take on gun violence for days, but the bottom line is, educated America agrees with me. We need to take a harder stance on gun violence, better background checks and more funding for states to combat gun violence isn’t going to cut it, we shouldn’t respond to gun violence, as a country we need to get in front of the issue and prevent rather than respond.
Guns WERE a part of America and are still an integral part of our history but not anymore.
Hi Ranvir, I think your blog would make an APUSH teacher incredibly happy (cough cough Veizades) I admired your extensive knowledge displayed in your blog through facts and references to political legislations and events. But the most refreshing aspect of your blog was that you managed to grasp the history behind America's opinions on guns today. Our country's origin established values which have continue to dominate our society today, an aspect that people miss frequently however you did not, I commend you for your opinions and historical knowledge.
ReplyDeleteRanvir, I completely agree with you that gun control is absolutely necessary, but I disagree that it’s been at the forefront of American politics: most people have no clue what’s going on with local politics (myself included :), and in the Presidential debate last year (which got more coverage) both candidates said that the 2nd Amendment right to a gun was crucial. In fact, even when politicians (locally) have gotten around to it, such as Chicago in the 2000s after a surge of violence, the Supreme Court shut it down in McDonald v. Chicago where they ruled that the 2nd Amendment applied locally through the 14th which essentially means that even cities and states cannot ban guns in their local areas, which renders gun control not just virtually impossible but may also misinterpret the point of the 2nd Amendment (this is the opinion of a 16 year old vs that of 9 Supreme Court justices so please take this with a grain of salt :), which was to keep wildlife at bay and to have the people ready to fight if ever needed for their states. In a city like Chicago, wildlife isn’t a problem but shootings and violence are, and this is the case for many modern urban areas; as you mentioned, the 2nd Amendment was created in 1791 and thus fails to take this into account. Also, we now have local police forces and State Defense Forces if state militias are ever needed. Why do you believe there is such a stark difference between the gun policies of the US and that of other developed nations? I love your use of rhetorical questions to inspire reflection into the issue, your use of statistics and facts to support your arguments, your 5 word paragraph to display how outdated the 2nd Amendment is, and your metaphor of the “band aid on the bullet hole” (which connects directly back to the topic!) to exhibit that the attempts at reforms aren’t exactly doing much. All of these add heavily to the persuasiveness of your writing: thank you for such a great piece!
ReplyDeleteHello, Ranvir! I love how you chose to use short paragraphs and sentences to bring attention to the issue. The fact that they all contained complete and coherent thoughts really helped me follow your train of thought, and kept me wanting more as I read on. I definitely agree with your assertion that greed is a large factor to why guns are still prevalent; however I wouldn’t say education is a key factor. While certainly a large percentage of the group that supports guns are “uneducated,” as you put it, I believe there is little correlation between the two. I think gun ownership is really dependent on the ideals of the people owning them, and gun owners believe in the sort of do-it-yourself gumption that they believe in, that they believe America is about. The belief that America is about being self-sufficient and protecting oneself, is indeed as you showed, Romir, 200 years out of date. America is now a part of a unified global community, and we cannot remain stuck with ideals that were clearly meant for a much older time.
ReplyDeletePreach! There is absolutely no value in allowing the common man to bear arms. Sure, guns can help one protect one’s family, but from the other point of view, banning guns also prevents the perpetrator from inflicting significant harm on you. Without a gun, mass school shootings wouldn’t be able to occur within less than half an hour. A “few” gun deaths a year is NOT worth upholding the second amendment, no matter what conservatives say.
ReplyDeleteIn your opinion, do you think we should ban guns? As much as I personally would like that to happen, I don’t know whether it could occur in reality. Like you said: nearly half the country is willing to die on this hill to preserve gun rights. I agree that it would be more realistic to instate harsher regulations so that firearms don’t make their way into the wrong hands. Hopefully, as time goes on, Americans will begin to realize that a law created over two hundred years ago during the Revolution is not fit for current society. Guns should be a privilege, not a right!