Diverging Gunvernments

Courtesy eMendment.org, all rights reserved.

A very interesting article over at the Battalion caught my attention, most notably the very different actions being taken by Federal and State Governments concerning guns. The article outlines the differing opinions of the Obama Administration and the Texas Legislature and the actions currently being taken or proposed by the two parties. The Obama Administration has taken several courses of action including presidential memoranda and 23 executive actions. The three presidential memoranda called for by Obama "require federal agencies to make relevant data available to the federal background check system, require federal law enforcement to trace guns recovered in criminal investigations and direct the Centers for Disease Control to research the causes and prevention of gun violence." On the other hand, over 20 bills had been proposed almost two weeks into the 83rd Texas Legislative session that covered issues on gun control. Among the bills being discussed are concealed handgun permits, concealed carry at public schools, and a bill that would allow Texas A&M students and faculty who hold concealed weapon permits to carry on campus and even inside the buildings. Many of the students at Texas A&M seem to approve of concealed carry on the campus including the Student Senate citing "[Senate] feels that it would make the University safer and give people the security so that they can protect themselves on campus.”

Another issue being tackled is background checks; gun stores are currently required by federal law to enforce background checks when selling a weapon. Most use gun shows or private selling as a way to circumvent the law surrounding background checks. The Obama Administration is proposing universal background checks no matter where the transaction takes place, why wasn't this already being done? "U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said the need is not for tighter background checks, but for the Justice Department to hold gun buyers who do not follow the law more accountable for their actions, according to the The Huffington Post."

The last issue in the gun control package deal is mental health. Obama is calling for the Attorney General to research the issue of mental health in gun violence through the use of Executive actions. Also to make sure that dangerous people are not being allowed to purchase weapons. Another look at mental illness reveals that although some mentally ill people have a slightly higher proclivity towards violence than the average person, “looking at mass murders, only 20 percent are committed by persons with serious mental illness in their history, on the other hand, 60 percent of mass murder episodes are committed by middle aged working class men who are down on their luck — laid off, divorced, etcetera.”

In retrospect what could we have done to prevent violent crimes involving guns? Should we make stricter laws for people with mental health and require universal background checks? Should we require a database that tracks every weapon in the United States? Are the Federal and state governments creating problems for each other? If you are interested in 2nd Amendment rights or gun control or you just want to know where the state and federal governments stand on these issues then I highly recommend reading this article. Leave your comments below.

Check out the original article here.