Washington

- Debate intensifies in Washington's political and media circles about the right to bear arms and its restriction after each shooting incident that results in a large number of casualties. After days and weeks, the discussions calm down and are renewed with the occurrence of a new incident.

And 10 days after a white young man murdered 10 black shoppers at a grocery store in Buffalo, upstate New York, the dilemma of carrying a gun is back.

9 days later, the massacre of Robb Elementary School in Ovaldi, southern Texas, which left 21 victims, including 19 children, prompted an intense and unprecedented debate about the right to bear arms and its constitutionality, at a time when the majority of observers realize that there are no practical solutions in sight. to this renewed issue.


Al Jazeera Net monitors 3 main factors that doom these discussions to failure and make it difficult to change the status quo:

First: the great strength of the weapon lobby

There are many associations and organizations that strongly support the Second Amendment to the US Constitution, which protects the right to bear arms for civilians.

The National Rifle Association "NRA" (NRA) is the most important of these organizations, due to its long history of more than 160 years, in addition to its huge financial resources that gave it wide political power.

The association has 3 separate bodies, and the NRA is primarily concerned with promoting training, education and gun safety, while the NRA-ILA is the one that focuses on political activism and acts as a lobbying arm for the organization. The third of these bodies is the charitable arm of the organization, which provides wide humanitarian services to the needy among its members.

In 2020, the National Rifle Association spent nearly $250 million on its efforts to advance gun ownership as a constitutional right of American citizens.

The association is lobbying hard on all proposals to limit access to guns, arguing that more guns make the country safer.

It strongly opposes most local, state, and federal legislation that would restrict gun ownership.

For example, it lobbied for the resale of weapons confiscated by the police, arguing that destroying weapons is, in fact, a waste of usable weapons.

The League has significant indirect influence through its politically engaged members, many of whom vote in one way or another based solely on this issue.

For its part, the association rates members of the US Congress from "A" to "F" based on the extent to which they support gun rights.

These ratings could have a serious impact on poll numbers, and could cost pro-arms control candidates their seats in some states.

Officially, the association documented spending approximately $3 million annually to influence gun rights policy, yet this financial value is only the recorded contributions of legislators, while approximately $ 250 million is spent annually via political action committees, independent contributions and political advertisements. It is hard to track spending.

NRA fights for constitutional freedoms as it understands them, especially the right to own a gun.

The association opposes expanding background check systems for firearm buyers, because a background check does not prevent criminals from obtaining firearms, because some proposals to do so would deny citizens due process, and because the association opposes the registration of firearms in a federal database .

The Association does not recognize the colloquial definition of "offensive weapons", and considers that this type of equipment is among the weapons protected by the Second Amendment to the Constitution, as it serves defensive purposes.

The association argues that AR-15 rifles and other semi-automatic rifles are not the military's automatic firearms as opponents of expanding gun ownership describe.


Second: American culture

The Constitution granted Americans the right to own a gun for self-defense and to counter the threat of government tyranny when the American Republic was established 245 years ago.

With the development of a positive view of the constitution to the point of sanctification of its texts by conservative forces, the controversy has become not related to the right to purchase weapons, but rather its controls and nature.

Americans own more firearms than any other country in the world, and that number continues to grow every year.

The spirit of personal freedom and its development over the years are most evident in Americans' relationship with firearms.

Opinion polls indicate that 32% of Americans will own a firearm in 2021, or approximately 106 million Americans.

Americans own a third of the world's firearms, or nearly 400 million firearms, or 120 firearms for every 100 citizens.

On the other hand, gun hunting is part of America's cultural heritage, an important tool for wildlife management, and an important part of the agricultural and livestock economy.

At least 15 million Americans are hunting, and they are among the most vocal supporters of the National Rifle Association.

Americans buy nearly 40 million guns legally each year, according to FBI records.

Some may be surprised to learn that gun ownership in America cuts across racial and ethnic lines, and expert surveys indicate that gun buyers are increasingly diverse, becoming gun owners for a variety of reasons including increasing insecurity caused by the pandemic, rising crime and racial tensions.

The percentage of gun owners among white families is 47%, among blacks 37%, 26% among Hispanics, and 20% of Asian families in America.

The Pew Research Center indicates that the percentage of gun ownership in some states is higher compared to others, and the percentage among citizens of Montana is 66%, Wyoming 66%, Alaska 65%, and Idaho 60%.

The Texas massacre left 21 victims, including 19 children (Reuters)

Third: partisan polarization

After the elementary school massacre and the killing of 19 students and two teachers, Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, in an emotional and moving speech to the Senate, called for the passage of laws that reduce shootings.

"I'm here to beg you to find a way to pass laws that make these accidents less likely," Murphy said in his speech.

While Republican leaders warned of the dangers of politicizing the shooting incident, they attributed the reason not to the weapon used, but to the person who shot the students.

Despite the support of the vast majority of Americans to place strict controls on the purchase of advanced offensive weapons, Republicans have linked the right to buy guns to other very important social, cultural, and religious issues.

Hence, all those who support the extremism in exercising the right to abortion have become by extension supporters of the right to buy weapons.

With Congress divided, with neither party enjoying a 60% majority, it is difficult to change any of the current legislation governing the right to purchase firearms.

While the Second Amendment to the Constitution limited the federal government's ability to regulate gun purchases, the Tenth Amendment brought broad powers to states regarding rules for the purchase and use of firearms, such as where, when, and which guns you can buy or carry in public.

The types of weapons and legal advantages to purchase are left to the states.

In the end, the recent shooting would raise a double shock, especially since the victims are children, but there is no hope that Congress will pass legislation restricting the purchase of firearms, which is what the NRA lobby is looking for and working on.