The past week has been a tragic week. First, a 22-year-old singer, Christina Grimmie, was shot signing autographs following a performance. Later that weekend, a popular gay bar in the Orlando area was the target of a deranged extremist, intent on ending numerous lives, now known as the bloodiest shooting on American soil in modern history. The following day, a man was arrested with firearms and explosives, planning to carry out an attack at a pride parade in Los Angeles, California. In the hours following these events, politicians, city officials, celebrities and spokespeople across the United States cried out against the sale of firearms, high capacity magazines and demanding the ban of “assault rifles”. This is a natural response, a response that usually follows any tragedy involving guns, however a response that may not be the right solution.
Following an event such as the shootings in Orlando, everybody very quickly becomes an expert on firearms. “Information” spreads like wildfire across social media, posts are created, shared, re-shared, liked and commented on, many not being checked for factual accuracy. For example, the most common being myths about so called “assault rifles”. An assault rifle is a fully automatic or three round burst rifle with a detachable magazine. This means that with every pull of the trigger, more than one bullet will leave the barrel. Almost all guns currently on the civilian market do not meet this definition, cannot shoot a “30 magazine clip in half a second” and cannot be converted to fully automatic capabilities in a short period of time. The “AR” in the name “AR-15” is actually the company and model, the Armalite Rifle: Model 15. The AR-15, a derivative of the M4 and M16 rifles, shoots a .223 round, also known as the 5.56 NATO cartridge. The .223 is three thousandths of an inch larger than a .22 round, the most popular size of ammunition and also one of the smallest on the market today.
Another debate commonly in the news, usually alongside the debate of banning guns, is magazine capacity. Many politicians argue the fact that the 30-round capacity of the “assault rifles” is too much, there is no reason to have that many rounds. While many argue in favor of the banning of high capacity magazines, they do not take into account self-defense, hunting, or the fact that it isn’t just “assault rifles” that you can purchase these for. Almost every gun on the market today has the capability of having a high capacity magazine. Everything from the .22 Long Rifle, to Glock pistols, to even shotguns has the capability of having high capacity magazines, not just the so called “assault rifles”.
The solution may not be the banning of firearms or banning of high capacity magazines. The solution may be more thorough screening, harder back ground checks, and longer wait times from the time an individual purchases a gun to when they can take it home. At the end of the day, a criminal will still be able to get their hands on a firearm, regardless of bans, if they want one desperately enough. The sale of guns on the black market would go up. The only difference will be that there will be no one to try and stop them, sure the police department will be called and respond but that time, it may be too late.
All it takes is one individual who has a concealed carry permit to stand their ground, and a crisis could be averted. The solution may be more opportunities to take firearm safety classes, defensive courses, and response to active shooter classes. The day and age that we live in is a dangerous time, evil lurks everywhere, the most important part of the coming years will be how we as a country react to that evil, and how we as individuals will react to the evil. Will we back down and cower in fear or will we make a difference, stand tall, and work ourselves out of these difficult times.