Gun Violence and Gun Laws: U.S. vs. United Kingdom

Introduction

Gun violence, gun registration, and mass shootings in the United States — and to a lesser extent in the United Kingdom — have caused authorities great concern over the past several years. These issues have received a great deal of media attention and are therefore worthy of research. This paper reviews gun violence in the U.S. and in the UK, and examines gun laws that are currently in place as well as those that arguably should be.

Mass Shootings and Gun Violence in the U.S.

In the United States, as of October 1, 2015, there had been 294 mass shootings — a mass shooting being defined as one in which four or more people were killed or injured by a gun — and 45 of those occurred at schools (BBC). Up to that same date, 9,956 people had been killed in gun incidents and 20,000 people injured in gun incidents (BBC).

During Obama's presidency, he attended memorial services — or met with families of the murdered and injured — in the wake of 15 mass shootings. The BBC also reports that during the course of Obama's second term, there were 994 mass shootings in America.

Following a college campus shooting in Oregon, Obama traveled to Roseburg to console the families of victims, and was met at the airport by several hundred angry residents who opposed his advocacy of stricter gun laws. Ironic as this boisterous protest was in light of the fact that nine community members had just recently been killed on a college campus in cold blood — and nine more were injured — it illustrates the power of the top gun lobby, the National Rifle Association (NRA).

"It is disgraceful that the families of the dead and wounded were subjected to such an insensitive display of pique" (Brattleboro Reformer). The editorial in the Vermont Brattleboro Reformer went on to point out the difficulty that Obama faced in getting reasonable gun safety measures through Congress. After the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting — in which 20 young children were shot at close range and 6 teachers killed — legislation to require background checks on gun buyers at gun shows and online received a majority of 54 votes, but needed 60 votes to override a filibuster launched by pro-NRA Republicans in the Senate (BR). Research on the 46 senators who voted against background checks shows that they received "eleven times more money from pro-gun interest groups than did the 54 senators who voted for it" (BR); therein lies the central problem with gun safety legislation — and the influence of money in politics — in the United States.

How Difficult Is It to Get a Gun in the U.S.?

If an adult citizen wishes to purchase a gun in the U.S. and goes to a gun store or to a retailer like Walmart, a background check is required. The application form asks questions such as: Have you been convicted of a felony or of domestic violence? Are you addicted to drugs or a fugitive from justice? Have you been committed to a mental institution? (money.cnn.com). Using that information — along with the buyer's name, address, and other identifying details — the gun store contacts the FBI to determine whether the customer appears in the National Crime Information Center and Interstate Identification Center database. The FBI reports that "more than 100 million such checks have been made in the last decade," and that more than 700,000 gun applicants have been denied the right to purchase a gun based on their arrest record, including domestic abuse, or other disqualifying factors (money.cnn.com).

However, buying a gun at a gun show is a far simpler matter for most would-be purchasers. According to the Department of Justice, there are approximately 2,000 to 5,200 gun shows in America annually, with as many as 100 shows in a single week (Korte, 2015). Federally licensed dealers are present at gun shows, and purchasing from them does require a background check. But hundreds of private collectors are also on hand, and anyone can buy a gun from these individuals with no background check required (Korte, p. 1).

This is known as the "gun show loophole." Whether the prospective buyer is a mentally unstable person with a long institutional history, a violent offender, or someone with harmful intentions toward others, nothing prevents him from purchasing a gun at a gun show (Korte, p. 2). Gun show listings as of October 13, 2015 advertised dozens of upcoming shows in cities such as Jackson, Tennessee; Greenville, South Carolina; Independence, Missouri; San Antonio, Texas; and Virginia Beach, Virginia, among many others.

Conclusion

If a British resident considers six weeks "swift and efficient," it is clear that obtaining a gun is no easy task in the UK. The extent to which the NRA dominates the political landscape in the U.S. makes it all but impossible to imagine that America will one day adopt comparable precautions in limiting access to firearms. In the meantime, while America can expect to continue experiencing mass killings due to the relative ease with which dangerous individuals can obtain weapons, the opposite trajectory seems far more likely in the UK — where public pressure has consistently translated into legislative action following mass violence.