Aurora, gun control and the US Constitution

The mass shooting in Aurora, Colarado, has inevitably sparked a debate on gun control.  There is lots of wringing of hands and lots of questions about how it could happen and how.  But this is a debate taking place almost solely in the American media (and abroad).

Few politicians are saying anything.

 This is election year and none of them are prepared to tackle this thorny issue. 

Following similar massacres in the UK, most notably Dunblane, the moves to tighten gun control have been largely welcomed and enacted on. 

But in the United States it must be remembered that the National Rifle Association is the most powerful lobby group in the country.  And they have the Constitution on their side. 

The second amendment is loudly evoked on their website.  It is the right, the amendment says, of Americans to bear arms.  It actually goes on to say ‘against tyranny in government’.

But anyone trying to come anywhere near to understanding the mentality of a country where someone can rampage through a cinema or shoot children at a high school and yet which still demands the right to be armed, has to understand the power of the Constitution.  It goes to the fibre of what makes Americans Americans.

Nor is it a debate taking place within the general public.  Indeed, the response of the people of Aurora to the massacre was to go and buy more guns.  There was a 43 per cent increase in applications for background checks – a pre-requisite to buying a gun – on the previous weekend.

I spoke to people visiting the Jefferson memorial in Washington.  He was one of the founding fathers and it was his belief in the right to bear arms that made its way into the Constitution.  Not one said gun control should be improved.  A typical response was that this was a slippery slope to taking away other freedoms.

There were comments along the lines of ensuring people do not have mental health issues before they are given licences and one former veteran said that he thought there needed to be improved education on the responsibilities of people who own firearms.

The lone voices in more control came from a small group led by Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy, whose husband was killed and son seriously injured in the 1993 Long Island shooting.  She is pushing for legislation to ban large ammunition magazines like the one used in Aurora.

There were hints that President Barack Obama will shortly address but only to the extent that there is a need to focus on existing laws and to ensure weapons are not falling into the hands of individuals who should not, by law, obtain those weapons.

His spokesman reiterated President Obama’s support for a ban on assault weapons, like the one used in Aurora.  But that is not going to happen with the current Congress.

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