As a tearful President Barack Obama addressed the nation just hours after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., a single statement resonated among policymakers and pundits across the nation: "We're going to have to come together and take meaningful action to prevent tragedies like this, regardless of the politics."
From a college campus in Virginia, to a shopping mall in Tucson, Ariz., to a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., public mass shootings have become a cultural phenomenon in the United States. While history has shown that such events do not tend to elicit much of a policy reaction, the recent tragedy in Newtown sparked a clear shift in the tone of the gun control debate.
It is easy to see where the right to bear arms plays into our history as an important symbol of American freedom. However, in modern times, when the average citizen does not need a handgun to protect themselves against the mundane threats of daily life, this emblem of liberty seems antiquated.
Born and raised in suburban New York, I may never understand the necessity of sleeping with a loaded .44 Magnum under my pillow.
Nevertheless, what I do understand is that America's addiction to gun violence and its ability to perpetuate acts of unthinkable cruelty, such as the tragedy in Newtown, is a reality.
But who is to blame? According to the latest Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives statistics, there were 129,817 federally-licensed firearms dealers in the U.S. as of Aug. 1. That is more than nine times the number of McDonald's restaurants (14,098) and almost four times the number of grocery stores (36,569) across the nation. Furthermore, it is currently estimated that there are between 270 to 300 million guns owned by Americans about one for every citizen.
The presence and proliferation of firearms in the U.S. is undoubtedly a contributing factor to our inclination toward gun violence. There are many who consider the tragedies at Virginia Tech, Aurora, and Newtown to be singular, isolated events with no common characteristic other than a mentally unstable perpetrator.
Yet all countries contain those unsettled, alienated and often imbalanced outsiders who have the potential to violently turn on society. However, in most other civilized nations, these outsiders do not have the ubiquitous access to firearms along with the jingoistic gun culture that goes along with it as they do here in the U.S.
Ultimately, it is time to bite the bullet. Obama has stated that he is willing to use executive orders on guns, beginning with a federal plan to reduce gun violence by expanding background checks for gun and ammunition purchases. This sort of action may be the only way to break the partisan gridlock in Congress, if only temporarily. In spite of the president's efforts, the Supreme Court's ruling in District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) looms over any legislative progress that might be made. Regardless, several states, including Connecticut, Colorado, California and New York, have already revived the debate on gun control and soon it will be time for Capitol Hill to do the same.
In the wake of the murders of those 20 young first grade students at Sandy Hook Elementary School, it will prove to be an impossible task for pro-gun advocates to argue that the unrestricted right to bear arms is above the right to life.
Simply put, the value of a personal freedom such as the uninhibited possession of firearms is worthless when the right to life can be taken away with the pull of a trigger. While an absolute ban on assault weapons seems unlikely, a movement toward greater restrictions and severe background checks is imminent.
The social contract implies that all citizens have consented, either explicitly or implicitly, to surrender some of their freedoms in exchange for protection by government. In the case of federal gun policy, people must abide by the social contract and learn to sacrifice this personal liberty in order to protect the overall welfare of society or learn to live with perpetual gun violence as just another national pastime.
