John Embler 1

Ammunition: The Core Issue

What good do gun reforms do if they are not obeyed by everyone? We can solve our gun reform problems by cutting out the lethal in lethal weapon: the ammunition. In the midst of all of this talk about the reformation of gun laws we must ask ourselves: is this really what is best for me and my family? The gun reforms previously enacted only make it harder for people who intend on purchasing firearms legally due to the fact that the black market and their booming firearm industry really dont care about the law or firearm reform, in fact, that is good for their business! In response to this, I am in support of a reform not only in the way the firearms themselves are obtained, but also in the way ammunition is obtained. In my opinion, ammunition is the biggest issue because without bullets a gun is about as lethal as a baseball bat, yet we still allow criminals and the mentally ill to kill people with ammunition purchased in our nation. Within this issue there are a multitude of different views on what the problem is and how we should go about fixing it. According to Drexler, the decrease in hunting causes for the decline in hunting rifles purchases which makes gun makers want to persuade buyers to purchase their more exciting and dangerous assault rifles. Drexler states, missing in those arguments: of all the implements used to kill people only guns are created to do exactly that, and only assault weapons are manufactured expressly to do that as quickly as possible. Seriously -- could Adam Lanza have dispatched 26 innocent souls in Newtown in five minutes with anything but an assault weapon? http://proxy.lib.utk.edu:90/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db= aph&AN=93976227&scope=site Now the question is how much truth does this hold? Technically speaking, Lanza and as a matter of fact any sick minded person with intentions of walking into a school and harming innocent children can do so with or without an assault rifle. In fact, it was more likely that he would have done so using a handgun according to this pie chart. This chart shows that more homicides occur by means of

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handguns than any other gun type. With this being the case, it should not become harder to obtain assault rifles when in reality they are not the real problem. Following the shooting at Sandy Hook the United States Government has been making steps towards attempting to keep guns out of wrongful hands. The article, Administration Proposes Fixes To Gun Background Check System states: The White House said the Department of Justice is taking steps to clarify terms in the federal law barring those with certain mental health problems from purchasing firearms following complaints from states that have called the statute ambiguous. http://proxy.lib.utk.edu:90/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db= aph&AN=93576200&scope=site Personally, I feel like this is a step in the right direction for the gun reformation. I believe that the guns should be taken from the people who are not mentally stable enough to hold the responsibility of owning a gun. The chart to the right depicts that the majority of gun deaths occur via suicide. The compilation of this and the known mental health problems of many of the people responsible for recent massacres proves that restrictions need to be made concerning the individuals that can purchase firearms. In the midst of all of this talk concerning gun control the government has actually done the exact opposite of what they had allegedly set out to do. The article, Obama Gun Control Scheming Sparked Record Firearm Sales discusses the fact that while government discusses gun reforms they are actually increasing the prevalence of guns. According to the New York Times, quoted in the article, 109 new gun laws have enacted at the state level since Obamas push began, and 70 of them have actually loosened restrictions. http://proxy.lib.utk.edu:90/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db= aph&AN=93814446&scope=site This statistic is rather staggering, but it shows that Americas public is reacting in just the opposite manner of the governments intentions. However, according to Inexcusable Action, legislative decisions are not coinciding with public opinion in matters of gun reformation. http://proxy.lib.utk.edu:90/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db= aph&AN=92685525&scope=site As a United States citizen and rightful gun owner I support gun rights. With that being said, I realize that the way citizens obtain guns and ammunition desperately needs reforming. There is no excuse for the massacres that have happened in our recent history, but something needs to happen to prevent them in the future. I believe the American public should take a stronger stand and demand action in gun reformation instead of trying to always push them blame onto other people like the manufacturers. In my opinion, the biggest issue is in the

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ammunition because the only restrictions are age which allow both criminals and the mentally ill to purchase ammo with no questions asked. My idea for reformation is to require government issued identification cards that must be in your possession at the time of purchasing either firearms or ammunition. In order to obtain one of these cards, individuals would have to apply through the federal government which would then check criminal and mental health history of all applicants. This process could potentially keep guns away from criminals as well as the mentally ill. Ideally, with this system information could be kept and updated on a database, and the amounts of what firearms and ammunition each individual purchases could be monitored. With all of the information previously discussed I urge everyone to stand up for not only their rights as United States citizens to own guns, but also to increase their protection against enemies both foreign and domestic within our borders. We will never be able to take all of the guns out of the wrong hands, but if those people cannot obtain ammo their guns are useless. As the American public we need to stop blaming others and take initiative in resolving this issue on gun reformation.

John Embler is a junior majoring in accounting at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. He can be reached at jembler@utk.edu.