Roseburg, Charleston, Sandy Hook, San Bernardino, Columbine. All of these names stick out in people’s minds because of one major tragedy. All of these towns were sites where a mass shooting took place. Devastation rocked the country each time another news story broke of an unexpecting town erupting into panic due to an unannounced and unnecessary shooting. Within the last year, there have been a total of 52 shootings, resulting in 30 people killed and 53 wounded.
Amongst these 52, 21 have been at colleges and universities, 15 at high schools, three at middle schools, 10 at elementary schools, two at preschools, and one on a school bus. There is no question that action needs to be taken to resolve this issue scouring our country.
In the recent State of the Union address, President Obama stated claims to help reduce the gun violence that this country has been facing. To many, this step may look like the beginning of chance, but we have to remember that in less than a year our nation will be lead by another leader. While the final candidates are not yet selected, there is a clear division of who supports following Obama’s lead and enforcing strong gun control policies and who is against restricting the public’s gun rights.
On one side, we have the Democratic candidates, Hillary Clinton, Martin O’Malley and Bernie Sanders, advocating for strong restrictions. These three have been very vocal about their strong beliefs towards taking action to prevent more mass shootings occurring. Clinton calls for expanded background checks, banning assault weapons and repealing a law that shields gun manufacturers from lawsuits. O’Malley proposed similar actions along with requiring fingerprint-based licenses for purchases. Sanders has also called for a banning of assault weapons and closing the gun show loophole.
Out of the three, Sanders is treading slightly more hesitantly than his fellow candidates. He’s been an active supporter of banning assault weapons and background checks since 1990, but has to remain careful since Sanders is from a state that uses guns for recreational use. Although Clinton and O’Malley have chosen more aggressive plans, with proposals that included legislative and executive action, all three candidates have the same end goal in mind when it comes to the preventing another mass casualty caused by a shooter.
On the Republican side, a very different approach is taken when facing gun control. Many of the candidates look to issues other than just the gun control policy and see the Second Amendment as a protection tool for most Americans. Chris Christie, Carly Fiorina and George Pataki are large supporters in simply enforcing the current laws in place regarding gun control. They believe that the current laws are not the problem, but that the people have not been informed properly. Some candidates, like Marco Rubio and Lindsey Graham, blame the outbreak of shootings on mental illnesses. Many of the other candidates that don’t have a specific reason for increasing the restrictions on gun control argue that guns make people feel safer and give them a sense of self-protection.
While the actual presidential election is still further down the road, the candidates are already tackling some of the hardest issues that face our nation. As voting members of society, it is in our best interest to keep ourselves up to date on what are possible future president is standing for and willing to fight for.