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Does the constitutional right to bear arms endanger human lives?

There are much controversies on the constitutional rights to bear arms, most of which surrounds the Second Amendment of the US Bill of Rights. This is largely due to the tragic gun culture in US, US alone has the most public mass shooting than any other country in the world. According to the CNN, between 1966 to 2012, US accounts for 31% of the global public mass shootings.[1] Despite the mass number of gun-related deaths, the gun culture in US remain strongly advocated.

(Image Credit: Rick Bowmer)

The Gun Violence Archie (GVA) defines mass shooting as “more than four shots and/or deaths in a single incident”.[2]

History

Historically, the right to bear arms mostly derived from the 1689 Bill of Rights in UK, and was later brought to its colonies, including US. Another driving factor behind US’s gun culture would be how it gain its independence.  

The American Revolution in 1765, sparkled by the Boston Massacre, along with the seizures of arms and militia made a deep impact in the US gun culture. It can be seen in the Second Amendment, which states that “a well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security off a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” In other words, it constitutionalises as a deterrent against tyranny of the government. This measure may be effective in the past where muskets were used as the main military weapons, however it is clearly not effective in the modern generation, where military technology has far advanced beyond guns.

Self-Defence

One of the popular arguments for bearing arms is for the purpose of self-defence. Justice Antonin Scalia stated in District of Columbia v. Heller, that “the traditional lawful purpose of arms is for self-defence within home”.[3] Some may argue that the right to bear arms coincide with the right to life, by the basic right to self-defence.[4] According to Pew Research, more than 70% of gun owners feel safer owning a gun”.[5] However, is the sense of safety equivalent to the practicality of self-defence.

According to Bureau of Justice Statistics, between 2007 and 2011, less than 1% of the victims of violent crimes protected themselves with firearms.[6] Therefore, it can be argued that, the sense of safety does not equivalate to the used of firearms as self-defence. Furthermore, the presence of firearms only increases hostility and encourages a shoot-off, therefore, endangering lives of those involved, but also including of those in the vicinity. Moreover, there is also the possibility of firearms stolen and used by criminals, according to the Institute of Medicine, most of the guns sold in the black market were initially obtained through legal transaction.[7] Therefore, by restricting gun ownership, may indirectly reduced the number of guns available to criminals, thus reducing gun violence that may endanger human lives.

Domestic Gun Violence

Guns are double-edge weapons, it may protect human lives, but at the same time endanger human lives. According to Mayors against Illegal Guns, women are more likely at risk of being killed whenever a gun is present during a domestic dispute, more than 50% of the mass shootings involved domestic violence.[8] 

(Image Credit: Press Association via AP Images) 

Moreover, there is also a factor of children safety, it is known fact that children are mischievous, having a gun at home endanger their lives. According to Law Centre to Prevent Gun Violence, “89% of children death due to accidental shooting take place at home, mostly due to children playing with guns…”. Therefore, it is obvious that guns are more likely to endanger human lives than protect human lives.

Mental Health

(Image Credit: Getty/ David Becker)

The most dangerous people to own guns are those that has some form of mental health problem. This can be seen from the perpetrators of the deadliest mass shootings. According to Liza Gold, “mass shooters tend to be impulsive and angry about a lot of different things, usually has a history with some form of violence, especially domestic violence”.[9] Despite strict gun laws against those who has a history of domestic violence, due to the Second Amendment Act, guns remains accessible to them. Therefore, remains to be endangerment to human lives. Unlike US, countries like UK and Australia banned guns after a massacre incident, and the gun-restriction policy remains effective measures against such incident. Therefore, the right to bear arms does endanger human lives.

Conclusion

In conclusion, based on the statistics given, it is clear that the right to bear arms endanger human lives. The effective gun-restriction policy in UK and Australia are good examples in preventing gun violence. Guns in the right situation does serve as effective self-defence measures, however, in the hands of a normal civilian, who mostly are not well equip in the use of guns, does not serve as effective self-defence measure. Furthermore, bearing arms at home endanger the lives of people around you, and certainly dangerous in the hands of those who has mental problems.

[984 Words]

[1] Kara Fox, ‘How US gun culture compares with the world in 5 charts’ CNN (2017) <http://edition.cnn.com/2017/10/03/americas/us-gun-statistics/index.html> Accessed 5 January 2018

[2] Gun Violence Archive, ‘General Mythology’ <http://www.gunviolencearchive.org/methodology> Accessed 5 January 2018

[3] [2008] 554 U.S. 570

[4] Nelson Lund, ‘The Second Amendment and the Inalienable Right to Self-Defense’ <https://www.heritage.org/the-constitution/report/the-second-amendment-and-the-inalienable-right-self-defense> Accessed 5 Jan 2018

[5] Pew Research Centre, ‘Why Own a Gun? Protection is Now Top Reasons’ <http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/05/09/why-own-a-gun-protection-is-now-top-reason/> Accessed 5 Jan 2018

[6] Michael Planty and Jennifer L. Truman, ‘Firearm Violence, 1993-2011’ (BJS, 2013), <https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/fv9311.pdf> Accessed 5 Jan 2018

[7] Institute of Medicine, ‘Priorities for Research to Reduce the Threat of Firearm-Related Violence’ <https://www.nap.edu/read/18319/chapter/1> Accessed 5 January 2018

[8] Mayors against Illegal Guns, ‘The Connection between Domestic Violence and Weak Gun Laws’ <http://www.ncdsv.org/images/MAIG_ConnectionBetweenDVandWeakGunLaws_2013.pdf> Accessed 5 January 2018

[9] Hilary Brueck, ‘The men behind the US’s deadliest mass shootings have something in common – and it’s not mental illness’ (Business Insider UK, Nov 2017) <http://uk.businessinsider.com/deadliest-mass-shootings-almost-all-have-domestic-violence-connection-2017-11> Accessed 5 Jan 2018.