In light of dozens of mass shootings since 2016, the need for comprehensive gun control has become one of the most relevant topics discussed along the 2020 election campaign trail. Particularly following movements sparked by the 2018 Valentine’s Day shooting at the Stoneman Douglas High School, each democratic candidate has expressed full support for various gun reform measures. The main focus of these is universal background checks, as well as some supporting gun-licensing, a ban on the sale and distribution of semi-automatic rifles, and voluntary buyback programs.
During the third democratic debate on September 12th however, notable presidential candidate and former congressman Beto O’Rourke took it one step further by proposing the mandatory buybacks of AR-15 and AK-47 semi-automatic rifles—a measure previously proposed by Eric Swalwell, a fellow presidential candidate that has since dropped out, and more recently in a proposal by March for Our Lives. When questioned on his open support for this mandatory buyback, O’Rourke responded by saying, “Hell yes, we’re going to take your AR-15, your AK-47. We’re not going to allow it to be used against our fellow Americans anymore.”
What’s so special about AR-15s and AK-47s?
The debate around semi-automatic rifles isn’t new. Since the expiration of the Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act in 2004, which was previously signed into law by former president, Bill Clinton “to prohibit the manufacture, transfer, or possession of a semi-automatic assault weapon,” semi-automatic rifles have become increasing popular amongst civilians and have been said by the NRA to be useful for hunting and self-defense—though this point has been debated amongst gun owners (Keneally, 2019). AR-15s and Ak-47s in particular, have also been used in some of our country’s most notable mass shootings, including the shooting in O’Rourke’s hometown of El Paso, Texas, using an AK-47 (Berkowitz, 2019).
Described by the NRA as “America's Most Popular Rifle” the AR-15 is the “semi-automatic civilian equivalent” to the M16, an adjustable full and semi-automatic rifle designed for the US Army in the 60s (Peters, 2016). Unmodified, this weapon can effectively fire roughly 45 rounds per minute and it’s bullets travel three times faster than an average handgun. Notably, with a bump stock, which was banned this year through an executive order, the AR-15 can shoot over 400 rounds per minute (Hanna, 2019). This makes it a highly lethal weapon that requires little experience when used to “spray and pray” (Leefeldt, 2017). In terms of practical use, one could argue that much of the draw of this weapon is largely that it is easy to use and looks cool, rather than the most effective for a qualified hunter or in a home environment as a form of self-defense.
Like the AR-15, the AK-47 was originally designed to be adjustable between semi-automatic and fully automatic, capable of shooting 600 rounds per minute—its semi-automatic mode can shoot 40 rounds per minute. It was designed in 1947, for the Soviet Army, and has been modified over the years to make it extremely inexpensive to mass produce, resulting in it being one of the most used shoulder weapons in the world (Ray, 2018). Its automatic version is still used in military combat today but has been criticized for having issues with accuracy (Ray, 2018).
Response to a Mandatory Buyback Proposal
Since the recent debate, numerous politicians, both conservative and progressive, have shared their views in response to Beto O’Rourke’s daring proposal. Among these, less than an hour after the debate, Texas representative Briscoe Cain, took to Twitter to say, “My AR is ready for you Robert Francis,” referencing O’Rourke’s legal name. Fellow presidential candidate, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, has also expressed an opposition to O’Rourke’s statement telling CNN, “…even this president and even [Senate Majority Leader] Mitch McConnell are at least are pretending to be open to reforms, we know that we have a moment on our hands. Let’s make the most of it and get these things done,” in agreement with a prior comment made by Senator Coon. Concerned with the possibility of giving talking points to those opposed to gun reform measures, Coon stated, “That [debate] clip will be played for years at Second Amendment rallies with organizations that try to scare people by saying ‘Democrats are coming for your guns.’”
O’Rourke has continuously defended his position through statements such as, “…the time for letting status quo politics determine how far we can go is over. If we agree that having millions of weapons of war on the streets is a bad idea, we have to do something about it.” This stance is still extremely divided however, as illustrated through a poll conducted by The Washington Post, that says 71 percent of Democrats support a mandatory buyback, but only 31 percent of Republicans (Farzan, 2019).
Current Gun Reform Actions
Despite the divisiveness of a proposal as bold as the mandatory buyback of semi-automatic rifles, the proposal of a new assault rifle ban is currently favored by all front-runner democratic presidential candidates. It is also outlined in Senator Diane Feinstein’s Assault Weapons Ban of 2019, introduced in the Senate this past January. Like all other recent gun reform bills however, it hasn’t been allowed on the Senate floor by Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McConnell. According to it’s current summary, this bill “makes it a crime to knowingly import, sell, manufacture, transfer, or possess a semiautomatic assault weapon (SAW) or large capacity ammunition feeding device (LCAFD),” but “permits continued possession, sale, or transfer of a grandfathered SAW” as well as grandfathered LCAFD (congress.gov, 2019).
This means that under this bill, the sale of newly manufactured semi-automatic rifles, such as the AR-15 and AK-47, will be illegal, but the ownership and private sale—with a universal background check conducted by a licensed dealer—of an outlawed semi-automatic weapon owned prior to the ban, will remain legal. State and local governments will also be eligible to receive funding to compensate individuals who wish to partake in a voluntary buyback program.
In addition to political action, we have seen multiple large companies making changes in their policies and production revolving around current gun violence issues. In addition to their previous 2015 decision to cease the sale of assault-style weapons, early last month Walmart announced that they’ll no longer be selling all handgun ammunition and certain short-barrel rifle ammunition. Walmart Corporate is also now discouraging the open carry of guns in their stores (Corkery, 2019).
More recently, gun manufacturer Colt has announced that they will be suspending their production of sporting rifles, including models such as the AR-15 (Yaffe-Bellany, 2019). Though it’s been speculated that this could be partially due to pressure from the changing political climate, in a statement on Colt’s website they assured their costumers that it is a matter of priority and manufacturing capacity stating, “…the market for modern sporting rifles has experienced significant excess manufacturing capacity. Given this level of manufacturing capacity, we believe there is adequate supply for modern sporting rifles for the foreseeable future. On the other hand, our warfighters and law enforcement personnel continue to demand Colt rifles and we are fortunate enough to have been awarded significant military and law enforcement contracts. Currently, these high-volume contracts are absorbing all of Colt’s manufacturing capacity for rifles.”
As we continue to near the next presidential election, it’s undetermined what issues will rise to the foreground. What is clear that the discussion of our country’s gun violence crisis will remain relevant until a solution is implemented. The events we are seeing unfold are the results of years of debating and continuous loss. It is widely agreed that action must be taken, but the question of what people are willing to give up in order to make change continues to complicate the matter.
Works Cited
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