Second Amendment poses interesting challenges in US
The question of gun control and the limitation of firearms in America has always been a hot topic conversation in America and especially with the recent shooting at a high school in Parkland in which 17 people were killed, the topic has once again been brought up in full swing. The conversation of guns is a very difficult one to have due to the Second Amendment's extreme importance to many Americans. While nations like England, Australia, and Japan has found the simple act of banning guns to be extremely effective in dealing with gun violence history has shown that act may be something which might never occur in America. Again, that relates to the Second Amendment of the United States, a unique policy which the three countries mentioned before did not have. If America even wanted to begin to ban guns then they would have to completely void the second piece of the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments of the constitution, which states that "the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed" While amendments can be voided (such as the 21st Amendment voiding the 18th Amendment, the prohibition of alcohol), voiding something as instrumental as the second will be almost impossible as it is ingrained into the fabric of our nation. Even the simple act of limiting the sale and ownership of guns is something which causes controversy. Not only does the very nature of the country make it very difficult to address the issue of guns in congress, but there is also the issue outside lobbying groups which assist in the protection of gun rights in America. Groups such as the National Rifle Association spend millions of dollars in lobbying for support in Congress. In 2016 for example the organization spent more than three million dollars in 2016 on lobbying in congress. Beyond lobbying, the NRA also makes contributions directly sponsoring politicians in certain states. They also assist to run propaganda campaigns for or against certain politicians in states. Which are attempting to work on bills for gun control. With all these factors considered, it becomes clear why direct action made to regulate guns rarely happens in America. Efforts are very commonly halted in making progress for anti-gun measures, even bills as simple as requiring background checks at gun shows or preventing people who are on government watchlists from being able to purchase a firearm were voted against in congress do to how instrumental then right to hold weapons is. So, in lieu of recent events in Parkland, other measures have been discussed in order to deal with the issue of gun violence without having to actually affect a citizen's ability to hold a gun. The main focus of these efforts have been to work to create a safer environment in schools. Many ideas have been pondered and many actions have already been taken in regards to the incident. Lincoln High School has even taken some measures to increase safety such as reinforcing the rule of students being able to let students in the school, forcing students to enter through the main entrance of the school, and having the doors to the school open to students at 6:50 only. All of these actions have been done in order to increase security and, in turn, lower the chances of someone being able to walk into a school with guns. One such example of regulations people are trying to push for is the addition to metal detectors in schools which would be able to identify the presence of a firearm being held by a student. Among the more controversial of solutions is the idea of regarding arming teachers in order to have them be able to fight back against intruders to the school. Florida has already began promoting legislation which, among raising the age you need to be in order to own a gun to 21, includes legislature which seeks to instruct teachers in using firearms in classrooms. This has been proposed across the nation and it in some forms and has usually been met with mixed feelings. While some people feel as though this could lead to increased protections, complaints on the idea range from it being too heavy a load to bear on teachers and also that it leads to too high of a risk with students being exposed to guns which they could possibly steal. The shooting at Parkland has once again shown that instead of making direct moves to limit guns, America sees to usually limit gun violence by other means, and in this particular incident strides to attempt to "increase safety" have become the main focus.