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Sean Coward Jr.

Professor Douglas

UWRT 1104

6 February 2017

Gun laws around the World

One of the biggest problems in the United States is that remains to have an

impact on society is the matter of guns, gun violence and the amount of lives that are

taken. The two articles, How do United States gun laws compare to other countries?,

by Jonathan Masters and Gun Control: What the United States can learn from other

advanced countries, by John Donohue both influence the idea that the United States

have some of the strictest gun laws, but encounter a high rate of gun violence. These

two authors share similar opinions, but separately focus on different topics. In the

articles, the authors explain why they believe gun violence is a problem, and how they

believe it can be solved. The government will have to change their gun policies or rick

leaving the country in danger of more homicides and increased casualty rates.

The article, How do United States gun laws compare to the other countries?,

explains all the different laws and regulations each nation has pertaining guns. Masters

mentioned many recent examples of gun violence in America, such as, school shootings

in Connecticut and the mass shooting in a Charleston, South Carolina church. Masters

then began to give background on the U.S. gun laws and regulations. He also quoted

the Second Amendment stating: A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the

security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be

infringed. (Masters) The Amendment upholds the rights for all citizens of the United
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States to keep and bear arms without any restraint as long as they are legally

registered. Masters also provided evidence from the gun policy website which showed

that the number of civilian-owned firearms and firearm homicide rates are nearly three

times higher than any other country. Cases like the shooting at the batman premiere

showed that changes need to be made in our policies. Gun law continue to be reviewed

and discussed for change but no other country seems to have that problem.

Shortly after Masters shows the statistics on the United States firearms, he then

begins to compare with other well-known countries. According to Masters, there are

some countries, like Canada for example, that allow the purchase of weaponry at a

young age. He states Federal regulations require all gun owners, who must be at least

eighteen years of age, to obtain a license that includes a background check and a

public safety course. (Masters) There are some countries like Australia and the United

Kingdom that only restrict the public from buying semi-automatic guns. Master also

discussed how some countries make the youth join the military as soon as they are of

age. Drafting young soldiers helps prevent some of the gun issues because it teaches

discipline at an early age and how they should be properly used.

The second article, although similar to the first one, had information that the first

one did not. In Gun Control: What the U.S. can learn from other advanced countries,

Donohue spent majority of the article discussing the issues with guns in the U.S. and its

laws much like how Masters began his introduction. Donohue spoke on the Charleston

church incident like Masters did but he also gave some input on the Santa Barbara

killer, Elliott Rodgers, and how that affected society. The gun cultures worship of the

magical protective capacities of guns and their power to be wielded against perceived
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enemiesincluding the federal governmentis a message that resonates with troubled

individuals from the Santa Barbara killer, who was seeking vengeance on women who

had failed to perceive his greatness, to the Charleston killer, who echoed the tea party

mantra of taking back our country. (Donohue) Donohue spoke more on how the U.S.

has tried to make changes in the government about gun laws as oppose to Masters

speaking mostly on the laws that are already in effect. He stated that at least eighteen

states have recently enforced laws to keep firearms safely stored while not in use.

Eighteen states in the U.S. and a number of cities including Chicago, New York and

San Francisco have tried to reduce the unlawful use of guns as well as gun accidents

by adopting laws to keep guns safely stored when they are not in use. He believes that

this is a good way of preventing acts of violence and possibly fatal situations.

Unlike the article by Masters, Donohue took the time to provide some of the main

reasoning behind issues as well as the statistics and possible solutions. He spoke on

the work that the National Rifle Association has done as an attempt to prevent gun

violence. The National Rifle Association has been working with a lot of government

officials and have taken the supreme court into account because they feel like the safety

of U.S. citizens is a necessity. Donohue also states that a lot of the problems revolving

gun violence are occurring due to the recent laws made. He also stated that recent

research from Stanford University found that the Right-to-carry laws are associated with

significant increases violent crimes. As the article continues Donohue gives some input

on the gun laws of other countries and concludes with suggesting to the U.S. to work on

coming up with an effective set of laws and regulations that will prevent acts of violence

and be acceptable for all states and jurisdictions.

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After reading both articles and analyzing the data they each provided, I

determined that Jonathon Masters article on gun control was the most effective

because of the amount of background given on the issues of gun laws and how they

affect the people of our country. Donohue made many great points on the problems with

the U.S. law and the ways that we can improve. Masters, however, provided a better

comparison of our laws with other well-developed countries and how those countries

have avoided the conflicts that U.S. have faced without the use of strict governing.

Countries like Canada, Japan, and Australia were brought up and complimented on how

they maintain the amount of violence that occurs in their societies. Masters went more

in depth with the different styles of government that countries have and the amounts of

violence that occur. From reading his article who can see his view point is very clear,

concise, and easy to understand. He explained that the countries with stricter gun laws

and regulations suffered more gun violence and more mass murders. Unlike Masters,

Donohue took the time to give his opinion on what solutions would help the United

States. He did not spend as much time explaining what problems have occurred in the

U.S. like Masters did. Both articles gave good points and had great explanations on the

problem with the United States, but Jonathan Masters, How do U.S. gun laws compare

to other countries?, gave the more insight on the issues at hand and a better

comparison with our countries issues compared to the rest of the world.
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Donohue, John. "What Americans Can Learn about Gun Control from Other

Advanced Countries." Newsweek. Newsweek, 13 June 2016. Web. 07 Feb.

2017.

Masters, Jonathan. "How do U.S. gun laws compare to other countries?" PBS. PBS,
n.d. Web. 07 Feb. 2017