A March for Everyone
April 6, 2018
March for Our Lives is not an anti-gun march; it is an opportunity for United States Americans to demand a change from the government regarding gun violence. It is a simple request: We want people to feel safe from gun-violence in this country, and without the publicity that this march brings, such things will not be put on the agenda of our government. The mission of March for Our Lives, as stated on their webpage, is to, “Assure that no special interest group or political agenda is more critical than the timely passage of legislation to effectively address the gun violence issues that are rampant in our country.” They state, “We demand morally-just leaders to rise up from both parties in order to ensure public safety.” This request to protect our public from gun violence is legitimate but is not necessarily an attack on guns themselves.
Personally, I do not use guns but I understand the importance of the Second Amendment and I certainly advocate for our Bill of Rights. However, some amendments have issues that impact our safety. For example, while the First Amendment provides the right to freedom of speech, there are requirements that one cannot just yell “fire” in a crowded room as a joke. This is a public safety issue. Similarly, it is important that people’s right to gun ownership is protected, but someone with a criminal background cannot own or use a gun because it poses a threat to the public. There are many ideas in circulation about what regulations should be put in place to protect people from gun-violence, but not all of them are legitimate or feasible in this country. That is why we have policy makers who are paid very well to do extensive research on solutions that would be most effective in solving this problem.
Above, in Figure 1, is an image of the results of research conducted by Boston University School of Public Health. It shows that the states with fewer laws regarding firearms tend to have higher rates of firearm deaths than states with more laws on firearms. The fact is, more laws make safer states. This does not mean “take away guns.” It means improve gun safety training, improve background checks, hire more people to enforce the laws already in place, etc. I know everyone wants a safer country to live in, but the moment people start arguing about it, the most extreme measures from both sides become the central topics and it stops us from coming to a conclusion. Many people start fearing that they will be losing their freedoms, but really, if they are responsible users of guns, then they are not the ones who will be losing their freedoms. People always say, “guns don’t kill people, humans do.” EXACTLY the problem. The wrong humans are getting access to guns and using them to kill people. That being said, I have no solutions and I am not going to be the one to come up with them. I trust the ability of our law makers to find a reasonable compromise on the matter that will, most importantly, protect our citizens from these terrible mass shootings that keep occurring across our country.
For more information on the March please visit: https://marchforourlives.com/mission-statement/
For more information on the research, please visit: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/27/states-with-strict-gun-laws-have-fewer-firearms-deaths-heres-how-your-state-stacks-up.html
For more information on CDC statistics, please visit: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/sosmap/firearm_mortality/firearm.htm
Mason Frost • Apr 7, 2018 at 6:35 pm
The March For Our Lives may have begun as a movement for everyone, but it has been taken over at the top by decidedly anti-gun parties, without question. In the mission statement they lay out the goals of an Assault Weapons Ban and a “High Capacity” Magazine ban, both of which have been proven to do little to nothing to curb gun violence.
http://www.assaultweapon.info/
Furthermore, they use highly politicized terminology such as a considering gun violence an :”epidemic” when in reality gun violence (and violent crime of all types) have been on a steady decline since the early 1990s.
https://www.wanttoknow.info/g/violent_crime_rates_reduction
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/12/03/weve-had-a-massive-decline-in-gun-violence-in-the-united-states-heres-why/?utm_term=.93a9d548f5cc
While I don’t doubt the validity of the study you linked, it is an example of correlation not being equal to causation. For example, the CDC data tracks ALL firearms deaths, not just homicides. This allows it to include suicides and deaths due to negligence in its numbers, which is misleading when it comes to gun “violence”. Not to mention, while it does show correlation between lax gun laws and gun Furthermore, and while this is another discussion itself, the CDC has proven itself to be incapable of studying gun violence without bias, which is why pro-gun advocates do not want the CDC weighing in on the topic, because they themselves have an agenda. This article does a much better job explaining than I do:
https://medium.com/@bjcampbell/everybodys-lying-about-the-link-between-gun-ownership-and-homicide-1108ed400be5
It’s unfortunate that the March has become so politicized, because while I disagree with a great deal of their positions, I am encouraged by the enthusiasm youths in America are beginning to show in politics. But, they are being manipulated by misleading facts and individuals who either do not know or do not care about the facts regarding firearms in the United States. For myself, my opinion on these issues comes down to the fact that I do not believe in creating bloated, intrusive laws and agencies with even more regulations when they apparently cannot be trusted to enforce the ones currently on the books adequately.
Rosie Russell • Apr 23, 2018 at 4:51 pm
Mason, thanks for your feedback! I agree, there are many unrealistic arguments surrounding the march and I am not advocating that those proposed laws should necessarily be put into place. However, if the government does not at least put the issue of gun violence onto their agenda…nothing will be solved, and historically, things do not get put onto the agenda unless there is a significant demand from the public (which is the primary reason I support the march). It may take trial and error to find a law or regulation that truly lessens the problem, but without ANY actions, nothing will change. There are many proposed solutions in circulation that may work, such as putting armed professionals in schools, arming teachers, highering the age to legally buy weapons or improving gun safety training, but if none are implemented, then we can never know if they will or will not work.
After reflecting on this article, I also realized it would be best if the government helped to fund States in implementing solutions. This way, states can choose a solution that they think will work best for their own unique communities, the Federal government can collect the data, and the states would be forced to at least do something about the problem. Anyway, thanks again, I appreciate your input!