Just recently the President of the United States, Joe Biden made a statement about gun control at the state of the union address and urged congress to enact a ban on assault weapons. The concerns shared by the American President is a valid one as mass shootings are almost strictly an American problem.
According to Brietbart, Joe Biden stated in 2022 right after the Uvadle shootings, “In the ten years the ban was law, mass shootings went down. After we let it expire, in a Republican administration, mass shootings tripled.”
The topic of gun control is a sensitive and contentious issue in the United States, where the Second Amendment of the Constitution enshrines the right to bear arms. Nevertheless, President Biden’s call for a ban on assault weapons has sparked a renewed debate on the need for stronger gun control measures to address the rising incidence of mass shootings.
The Washington Post stated in 2022 that President Biden has called for a ban on assault weapons, citing a study that showed a reduction in mass shooting deaths during the time when such a ban was in effect.
The study, published in the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, was led by Charles DiMaggio, a professor of surgery at New York University’s Langone Medical Center. It found that an assault weapons ban would have prevented 70% of mass shooting deaths that occurred during the years when the ban was not in effect. However, the data used in the study has faced criticism from some analysts.
The new mass-shooting database also shows a comparison of mass shootings before, during, and after the 1994 assault weapons ban. While the number of mass shootings increased after the ban expired, this may also be partially due to population growth.
Netizen’s react to Joe Biden’s gun control talk
The Constitution gives us the right to bare arms
— Jay (@GodsSonAtEarth) February 8, 2023
President Biden’s call for a ban on assault weapons has reignited the debate over the Second Amendment of the Constitution, which grants every citizen the right to bear arms. While some conservatives have emphasised the importance of this right, others argue that it should not provide a licence to harm innocent civilians.
The recent spate of mass shootings should be used as evidenced. This has led to a contentious conversation about the proper balance between individual rights and public safety. Others are pleading that one day the United States can be normal like the rest of the world.
we = you and kanye
— jam ➵ (@jdkaknak) February 8, 2023
A netizen stated that Americans want Donald Trump back. It appears that most that support the Republican party, support the ownership of guns among civilians. Another person replied saying that “we” referring to Americans are probably only him and Kanye West.
https://twitter.com/intominaj5/status/1623158370436784129?s=20&t=f2lhALm8GNy2w6AT6l5Ntg
Democrat supporters are also questioning Joe Biden’s efforts in reducing mass shootings in America. One stated that Biden is finally doing something about this issue, while another replied that nothing will be done about it. To be fair, this pressing issue has been discussed back and forth towards both political sides for years.
Whether or not guns should be banned in the United States is a subject to be debated on some other time, but the government must act in order to save the lives of the innocent civilians that might get hurt from a mass shooter. A middle ground solution that would appease both ends should be discussed and maybe it could help in reducing mass shootings.