On Wednesday, President Obama announced his new plan for gun control. The public knew this was coming, especially after the horrible events at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Advocates for gun control have been waiting a long time for the government to enact sanctions on gun use. President Obama issued 23 Executive Orders and Vice President Biden has been working with a committee for the past couple weeks to form a proposal that is finally ready to be presented to the House of Representatives. The proposal includes things such as requiring criminal background checks for all gun sales, reinstating the assault weapons ban, restoring a 10-round limit on ammunition magazines; eliminating armor-piercing bullets; providing mental health services in schools; allocating funds to hire more police officers; and instituting a federal gun trafficking statute. There are other policies involved as well. The package is estimated to cost around 500 million dollars (Stein; Rudolf 1). People are calling for action now, and because this proposal still has to pass through Congress, Obama has passed 23 Executive Orders that will be enacted immediately. They include: providing police, paramedics, and school officials with better training to help respond to school shootings, requiring federal agencies to hand over relevant data for a background check system, and directing the Centers for Disease Control to research the causes and prevention of gun violence. It was about time that the government responded to tragedies like the Sandy Hook shooting. These 23 Executive Orders are great; the problem is going to be passing this proposal through Congress. It is still unclear whether they are going to try and pass it in smaller bills or as one big proposal. Either way, it is not going to be easy to pass these proposals through Congress. Biden still needs to gather a lot of support for the proposal, especially in places where gun control opposition is strong. Gun owners believe they are being punished for the acts of criminals and are strongly opposed to this proposal. The NRA has already called Obama an “elitist hypocrite” for striking down their proposal for armed guards to be placed outside of all schools. This is going to be a long and hard fought battle, but something needs to be done. There has to be a way to stop these tragic events from happening. This proposal will most likely not be the end-all solution for school shootings, but at least it is a start. Gun control is a very sensitive issue. The Constitution specifically states that citizens have the right to bear arms. Therefore, it is extremely difficult to put limits on that right. I don’t believe that the right to bear arms should be completely taken away from American citizens, but at this point, something drastic needs to be done. Parents should be able to send their kids to school every day without worrying about their safety. Let’s hope Congress makes the right call and enacts this proposal.
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