Firearms, their consequences, and solutions.
The right to own firearms is protected by the United States constitution, however it seems as of late that the right is more protected than the people it applies to. It seems that almost every day you are able to look at a newspaper, social media, television shows, and even books and see references to individuals killed by these firearms that are so protected that people regularly protest against legislation on them. Legislation throughout the local and federal governments routinely make new laws and amendments that govern responsible gun ownership and “the right to bear arms is not unlimited, and for other purposes” (McBath, 2025).
The United States is a country that was born from a war that used firearms to fight, and it was this birth that helped give the United States the desire to allow its citizens to own their own military grade firearms, however in the case of the constitution and the amendments that grant civilians this right, the authors had no idea that firearms would come to the state they are today. A single individual is capable of firing 30 rounds in quick succession without having to stop and reload after each shot, a far cry from the muzzle-loading rifles used during the Revolutionary War. This led McBath, to present H.R. 3115 to Congress as an attempt to ban assault rifles and modifications to convert firearms from a semi-automatic to automatic weapon. (McBath, 2025). This House Resolution was an attempt to control gun violence by making it illegal to possess, manufacture or modify those firearms.
Gun control has been a hot topic in the United States since the Colonial Era, but of course “Gun control” back then is sure to have meant something very different than it does today. The rate of gun violence in the United States is so prevalent that it’s talked about even in foreign countries. Media across the world has been ringing with similar headlines recently, headlines which detail mass casualty events as result of individuals with foul intentions acquiring a firearm. The local and federal governments seem to be at a loss on how to control the crisis and lack a basic fundamental skill set of how to ensure gun owners are responsible. The National Institute of Justice noted in their research that “there are no federal laws requiring safe storage of guns, and no federal standards for firearm locks.” (Public Mass Shootings: Database Amasses Details of a Half Century of U.S. Mass Shootings with Firearms, Generating Psychosocial Histories | National Institute of Justice, n.d.). But what does this mean for the people?
In 1980, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) was officially recognized as a disorder, however it found itself initially being documented during the First World War (under the name of Shellshock). PTSD is a disorder that originates from witnessing traumatic events (like shootings, warfare, and automotive accidents). Post Traumatic Stress Disorder has been frequently attributed to individuals who have been in combat zones, soldiers and civilians caught in the crossfire, but lately it has been on the rise in the United States. The National Institute of Mental Health (NIH) reported that in the past year, 3.6% of adults in the United States exhibited Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and that 5% of adolescents in the United States exhibited Post Traumatic Stress as well. (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), n.d.)
Supporters of gun control and firearm safety measures hold a protest rally outside the US Supreme Court.
SAUL LOEB/AFP/AFP via Getty Images
(Representative Lucy McBath)
According to the Rockefeller institute of Government, 1,728 people have been killed during mass shootings since 1966, and 2,700 have been injured. This is looking outside of warfare and police related shootings, purely civilian based. (Rigadmin, 2026). Shootings in the United States have accounted for an unnerving number of deaths (however any unnatural death should be considered unnerving), places where individuals should feel safe are quickly flipped and turned into places of true unbridled horror, but how does this happen?
Throughout the history of the United States, firearm laws have come and gone, changing the way things are handled and done, but none have seemingly been able to correct crimes, and certainly haven’t had too much of an effect on mass shootings, why? According to the National Institute of Justice, 77% of mass shooters had acquired (at least some) guns through legal means, going through the very law system they were preparing to go against. (Public Mass Shootings: Database Amasses Details of a Half Century of U.S. Mass Shootings with Firearms, Generating Psychosocial Histories | National Institute of Justice, n.d.)
The United States has spent recent years attempting to come up with new legislation to help provide gun control in hopes of making firearm ownership safer and making it harder to commit these crimes. While some of this legislation has been able to make the acquisition of a firearm harder, it hasn’t been 100% effective. For example, H.R.3115 - Assault Weapons Ban of 2025, which was written in order to make the ownership and operation of a semiautomatic firearm illegal (McBath, 2025). This bill was introduced in April of 2025 and hasn’t exited the first stage of the legislative process; however, it is sure to receive scrutiny and most likely will not pass due to the nature of the legislation, but this is just one example of legislation meant to cut down on the ability to commit mass shootings. While it doesn’t outwardly prevent certain individuals from owning firearms, it does prevent them from owning firearms designed for rapidly fired shots and large capacity magazines, but is this lawful? Is it the right course of action?
The United States needs to find a way to cut down on the amount of mass shootings that occur. According to the National Institute of Justice, the mass shooting death toll has risen sharply, particularly in the last decade. In the 1970s, mass shootings claimed an average of eight lives per year. From 2010 to 2019, the end of the study period, the average was up to 51 deaths per year.” (Public Mass Shootings: Database Amasses Details of a Half Century of U.S. Mass Shootings with Firearms, Generating Psychosocial Histories | National Institute of Justice, n.d.).
Currently, as it stands, those in charge of making laws that could help prevent these attacks from occurring again do not have a clear idea as to how to lower them. The laws that are being introduced do not have the same level of importance in the eyes of everyone involved and cause nothing but division amongst those who have the power to make significant change, only leading to more tragic things having the opportunity to occur. If the United States truly wished to implement methods to prevent shootings (and even firearms entering the hands of the wrong parties), they’d have to show some real action.
If laws were implemented to help make firearm acquisition a harder process with more hoops that the individual purchasing the weapon would have to go through, then it would help prevent people acting on pure emotion from acquiring a firearm to take an action that will have negative consequences on both them and others. NIH conducted a study on adults and adolescents with mild to moderate PTSD. At the conclusion of that study NIH presented data that over one-third of the sample size had a serious traumatic stress impairments and almost one-third the sample had mild traumatic stress impairments” (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), n.d.) A simple method that could lead to less firearm-related crime would be to have a voucher system set up, requiring an individual to have others vouch on their behalf that they are in a clear state of mind. Another method would be to have a psychological evaluation performed before the purchase of a firearm would be permitted. If it was harder for those who have a compromised mental state, then the chance of firearm related deaths would lower immensely, and this is all without making firearms an outright crime to own. It wouldn’t make firearm crime disappear, but it could help make firearms that would be purchased legally from being involved in a crime. If the United States was truly able to enact these changes, maybe the violence would end.
References
McBath , L. (2025, April 30). Text - H.R.3115 - 119th Congress (2025-2026): Assault weapons ban of 2025
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). (n.d.).
National Institute of Justice. Public Mass Shootings: Database Amasses Details of a Half Century of U.S. Mass Shootings with Firearms, Generating Psychosocial Histories (n.d.).
Rigadmin. (2026, February 18). Mass shooting Factsheet | Rockefeller Institute of Government.