Blog Details

Introduction:

Recently, a debate over the gun laws has been progressively debated over many years due to mass shootings in the civilian setup. Rampant, gun violence is the main cause behind the death of adults and children in the United States. The ready availability and ownership of guns and other arms increases the rate of gun homicides in the US as compared to the other democracies. Despite such situations of rampant gun homicide the Congress has been unable to pass meaningful gun legislation although they had enough public support.

The United States of America:

The Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America gives its citizens the right to keep and bear arms, being necessary to the security of the free state. The citizen has the right to own their gun. However, the right to bear arms is not absolute but restricted. The US state legislature and Congress have the right to enact some controlling legislation. 

Further, the US Supreme Court has also upheld some firearm restrictions like ban on some concealed weapons or possession of some type of weapons and also restriction on sale of guns to certain categories of people etc. 

The Gun Control Act of 1968 puts prohibition on purchasing of the guns or its possession by an individual who is less than 18 years,  convicted criminals, mentally disabled and dishonourably discharged military personnels etc. Another legislation, the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993 mandated a mandatory background check for those applying for gun licences from federally authorised dealers. 

However, these legislations have failed miserably as the current position of 2022 is that there were no federal laws banning semi automatic assault weapons, military-style .50 calibre rifles, handguns, or large-capacity magazines. There was also no federal requirement for those purchasing a gun to have any firearm safety training. This has led to the killing of 19000 people in one year due to gun violence. This number has surged amid covid-19 pandemic.  

The US Supreme Court judgement held that Americans have the right to carry firearms in public for self defence. Earlier in 2008 and 2010, the court allowed the citizens to keep guns at home for personal self-defence. 

In the most recent judgement the right has been just extended to include the right to carry arms outside a person’s home. Elaborating on the same, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote  “Nothing in the Second Amendment’s text draws a home/public distinction with respect to the right to keep and bear arms.”

Other Countries:

1. Canada: The gun ownership ratio is relatively high in Canada. Like the United States Federal Government, the government of Canada also sets restrictions like a 28 days waiting period before the purchase of the gun, detailed background check, more precautionary mandatory safety courses, bans on large-capacity magazines; and bans or greater restrictions on military-style firearms and ammunition etc.

3. United Kingdom:Britain has enacted an amendment named as Firearms (Amendment) Act, which has expanded the list of the banned weapons, including certain semi automatic rifles, and increased registration requirements for other weapons. A category of the policemen in Britain do not carry firearms, setting them different from their other counterparts. 

4. Norway: The Norwegian parliament has approved a ban on semiautomatic firearms in 2018 which later took effect in 2021.

5. Japan: Under Japan’s firearm and sword law, The government has only permitted some guns like shotguns, air guns, guns with specific research or industrial purposes, or those used for competitions. However, before having access to these specialty weapons one has to obtain formal instruction and pass a battery of written, mental, and drug tests and a rigorous background check.