Why Legislation Won't Solve the Problem?

Katherine Phelan
Firearms in the United States: Why Legislation Won't Solve the Problem
The Constitution of the United States was ratified in 1791 and is the oldest written charter of government in the World. As stated in the Second Amendment of the Bill of Rights, "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." There has long been a debate on how those words should be interpreted and as more tragic shootings occur, this problem is becoming more and more prevalent. Proponents of the right to bear arms believe the amendment gives citizens an individual right to own a gun. Opponents on the other hand claim the word militia in the amendment implies that the right to own a gun is given only to provide national defense and is not for the common citizen. While the exact meaning of the amendment remains to be seen, what is clear is that this issue is not going anywhere. As more shooting tragedies occur around the country, the campaign to pass more firearm legislation grows louder. People affected personally by these tragedies believe that legislation is the solution. They believe that if there had been more gun control legislation preventing killers from obtaining firearms that their loved one would still be alive. Though there is no way to find out if that is true or not, I believe the solution to gun control involves a multidimensional approach, which may or may not include additional legislation, but will ultimately help people see that ownership of firearms and violence are two very distinct things.
Colorado, New York, and now Connecticut are among the states that have called for tighter gun control laws in response to recent tragedies. Newton, Connecticut, which is where the most recent mass shooting occurred and left 20 first graders and six adults dead. Immediately following the tragedy there was an outcry to lawmakers. On Thursday, April 4, 2013, new gun legislation was passed. Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy signed a new package of gun laws into effect, thereby making Connecticut have "the most unconstitutional gun laws in the entire country" according to The Connecticut Citizens Defense League. "The final package limited the size of gun magazines to 10 rounds, expanded the state's existing assault weapons ban, and required universal background checks on all gun sales in the state" (DeLuca). According to Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, "it takes bold, courageous action like this to help prevent the next tragic aushooting" (DeLuca). If this "courageous action" is supposed to prevent the next tragic shooting, why hasn't all of the past gun control legislation stop these recent tragedies?
Evidence shows that mass shootings actually hurt the case for gun control. Many of the laws that politician's want passed to help prevent more massacres in the future would not affect the attributes that are associated with typical mass shootings. ...