The views, information, or opinions expressed in this piece are solely those of the author and do not represent those of The Jemicy School and its employees.
By Niko Bennett ’22
Due to the increase of senseless gun violence in America, ghost guns have surfaced as a topic of conversation. Many people are worried about firearms, worried that the government isn’t tracking them, and thus guns are perceived as “dangerous.” But are these concerns valid? How deadly are ghost guns? And what about gun control in general? Does gun control as it’s currently debated work toward curbing violence? After some research on this subject, I’ll attempt to answer some of these pressing questions asked today.
A ghost gun is defined as a homemade or improvised firearm that lacks commercial serial numbers. The term is used primarily in the United States by gun control advocates, gun rights advocates, law enforcement, and some in the firearm industry. Making a ghost gun can be simple — as a tube, powder, ball bearing, and wick are all that is needed to make a muzzleloader. Or, making one can be as involved as buying an unfinished lower reserve, finishing it, then purchasing the other pieces, and assembling an AR-15. One fact you may not know is that in most states ghost guns are not illegal as long as you don’t violate the National Firearms Act. Therefore, as long as the weapon is basically not automatic, it’s legal.
How deadly are guns? According to the CDC, in 2018 there were 39,740 firearm-related deaths in the United States. That is many casualties no doubt, but it’s a stat that masks the fact that 60% of those deaths were suicides, making the total of 23,844 deaths by homicide or accident.
Don’t get me wrong, that’s still a lot, but consider that only 297 of those deaths were by rifles. Compare that number to 1,515 deaths by knives, 443 killed with hammers, or the 672 people who were killed from the human fist. It is obvious that violence is perhaps the culprit, not rifles such as the demonized AR-15. If anything, handguns are the problem, with the other 23,547 deaths coming from semi-automatic handguns. Yet, rifles such as the AR 15 are the ones that are the most demonized by the media today.
What about when guns are used defensively? According to the same CDC, 60,000 to 2.5 million gun crimes are stopped by guns. That is about three times more people protected by guns than killed by guns on the low end, and 100 times more at the high end. I am not ignoring gun deaths, but this clarifies that gun fatalities are related to how people use guns, not the guns themselves. Additionally, when new gun laws are proposed, they restrict rifles when handguns cause more deaths. This just goes to show the problem when gun control advocates make knee-jerk, ill-informed proposals related to gun control.
Does gun control work to save lives in general? Sadly, no. According to the Crime Prevention Research Center, “Since 1950, 94% of gun crimes happen in Gun-Free Zones.” As defined by the CPRC, the two types of attacks in gun-free zones are public shootings, where the killer is trying to kill or injure as many people as possible, or the violence is motivated by theft or gang fights. Shootings happen more often in these zones because unarmed people make a much easier target than armed people do. And places with stricter gun control laws, states like California, Louisiana, and Maryland, have some of the highest gun crime rates in the country. Baltimore’s crime rate includes one of the highest gun crime rates, which is mostly between gangs, and some of the strictest gun control laws.
Lastly, President Joe Biden has spoken up about gun control topics by stating six new executive actions. He asks that the Justice Department follow these actions within 60 days. When did the Justice Department get the right to draft legislation? Being able to write and enforce the law is beyond me…but moving on. Also, Biden introduced the idea of “red flag” laws that allow family members or law enforcement to petition state courts to temporarily block people from obtaining firearms due to mental illness.
Biden said states with such red flag laws had seen a reduction in the number of suicides. I don’t know if it will help with suicides because, in many cases, the victim appears fine until the very end, but it may help so those are worth a try. It didn’t seem to work in Indianapolis when a gunman entered a Fed Ex facility and murdered eight people and himself after his mother warned the authorities that her son should not own a firearm and was unstable. So having a law on the book doesn’t mean it will be executed properly.
Biden also appointed David Chipman to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms (ATF). David Chipman is a gun control activist so I expect to see a whole lot of new, poorly worded gun laws coming from him. He wants to reduce access to stabilizing braces, which according to him, can effectively turn a pistol into a more lethal rifle. This is not true. First, it would make it into a very weak carbine or a submachine gun that does not even have automatic capabilities. Secondly, the ATF already made a ruling on this saying that the brace didn’t change the classification on the firearm. This is like President Biden playing craps and asking to reroll his dice until he gets a pair of sixes. The President claims he wants to invest in evidence-based community violence interventions but, to me, this is nothing more than bureaucratic lip service by the Biden administration. We need solutions that work for once, not needless and meaningless action.
Finally, Biden asks that the Justice Department issue an annual report on firearms trafficking. This is a whole lot of nothing to make him look like he is doing something. The FBI and the ATF already do this. All in all, these actions are just to make Biden look like he is doing something, but he is not and it isn’t helping anyone.
The views, information, or opinions expressed in this piece are solely those of the author and do not represent those of The Jemicy School and its employees.
By Gabie Robinson ’21
There is, however, another side to this debate. I agree with you Niko, that there is a lot of gun violence and suicide, but there are other statistics proving that gun control is effective, and what President Biden is proposing can work.
To begin with, according to Statista, 42% of households hold one or more firearms. With an estimated population of 331,002,651 people (“United States Population (2021) – Worldometer”), that would equal around 34,755,278 households with one or more firearms. According to gov.uk, 586,351 people held a firearm and/or a shotgun certificate from April 2019- March 2020 in the UK. So, as we can see, the more guns available, and the US has a lot, the more opportunity for violence.
In the UK, gun owners need a certificate to own a firearm and these certificates are hard to get. Applicants need to spend hours filling out paperwork, starting with an application form stating the specific reason why a person wants a gun. Then independent referees provide confidential character statements in which they are expected to answer in detail about the applicant’s mental state, home life and attitude towards guns (most are used in rural areas to protect livestock from foxes). After that, officers check the Police National Computer for a criminal record and they speak to the applicant’s general practitioner for evidence of alcoholism, drug abuse, or signs of personality disorder. Social services can also be asked for reasons to turn down an applicant. Finally, senior officers must be sure that prospective shotgun holders have a secure location for the weapon, typically a dedicated gun cabinet (Casciani).
Take this system and compare it to the United Sates where many states are making it easier to purchase and carry weapons despite the growing violence, not harder.
Also, certificates have to be renewed every five years in the UK, and the police can and will confiscate weapons and certificates if the authorities feel a person can no longer be trusted. From 2008 to 2009, almost 1,300 certificates were revoked and firearms were confiscated for this reason. In 2020 alone, 1,512 shotgun and firearm certificates were revoked (gov.uk).
“Further, civilians are prohibited from possessing semi-automatic rifles in any caliber larger than .22 rimfire. The civilian possession of handguns is prohibited in all portions of the United Kingdom other than Northern Ireland. Those in Northern Ireland may apply for Personal Protection Weapon license in order to carry a handgun for self-defense. The license is usually reserved for politicians, ex-law enforcement, and the otherwise well-connected.” (NRA-ILA and National Rifle Association). That was published on December 7, 2020. The handgun is the weapon of choice in most gun crime in the US, and this system would go a long way to helping curb that violence
From 2002-2020, there have been 14,668 mass shootings in the UK including England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. Nearly 20,000 Americans died from gun violence in 2020 alone according to Forbes. According to USA Today’s Jane Onyanga-Omara, “In England and Wales, the gun homicide rate is one in every 1 million people. In a population of 56 million, that adds up to about 50 to 60 gun killings annually. In the USA, by contrast, there are about 160 times as many gun homicides in a country that is roughly six times larger in population.” There have been 14,582 gun violence deaths so far in 2021 as of May 4th according to the Gun Violence Archive.
The gun laws of the United Kingdom would benefit the United States because there would be no ghost guns. All guns would have to have serial numbers in order to be sold. These laws would make it impossible to even get a part for a gun without filling out the paperwork, and going through the process to get a certificate.
I know a lot of people are going to come after me saying “My second amendment right!” Well, here it is written out and broken down for you: “A well regulated Militia,” A CITIZEN ARMY “Being necessary to the security of a free State,” IN A WAR “The right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed,” CAN HAVE A GUN.
If we take the second amendment and look at it in this way, this leads me to my thesis.
From the statistics and measures above, along with the second amendment written out and explained, America should only give guns to those that are in the armed forces to fight in a war. If that seems too much to ask, we need to go through the processes and precautions that the United Kingdom takes in order to have guns. Or, we could simply keep guns restricted to a war and a gun range. Now I know what you’re thinking. No hunting? First of all, hunting animals is cruel in my opinion. Second of all, there are multiple other hunting methods out there that you can use.
Think about this: so many children have to go into lock down in America, but not in other countries. Students and teachers in other countries feel safe enough to go to school. Kids in the US often don’t. We instead have to be traumatized to stay safe. Why isn’t this the same in other countries? The answer is simple. They have stricter gun laws.
America is not a safe place. If we take anything away from today’s America, it’s that our children already have high anxiety, and guns being introduced makes anxiety spike. I get the other side saying we need more guns to protect ourselves, but that isn’t the answer. More guns create more anxiety; more students, teachers, staff, and administrators constantly in fear for their lives in a setting where they’re supposed to feel safe.
If America had less guns, along with more restrictions for those who already have them, this would create a safer America for both today’s population, and populations to come.
MOOSE PRINTS 
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