SYNTHESE

The main issue addressed in this corpus is the question of gun control and gun circulation the
United-States, especially during Barack Obama’s presidency.
Therefore , the main issue we can focus on is : how did the questions of gun ownership and gun
control evolve during President Obama’s time ? To answer the question, the outline will be as
follows, firstly I will take a look at how this amendment is both historic yet questioned, then the
great division that this issue has caused in the current American society and finally whether or not
there was leverage to change the question of gun control.

I. Historical right

- Firstly, gun ownership is an ancestral right especially defended by the NRA, the National Rifle
Association which is one of the most powerful lobbies in the USA. Dating back from the 19th c this
association aims at protecting the Second Amendment right and fears the possible changes in
policies that could arise. Indeed, their goal is to sell the idea of gun as protection which was the first
goal of the original amendment. They go as far as campaigning to children (as notified in document
3). Indeed, this amendment is historic and historically American, transmitting this right is similar to
transmitting the American spirit to the youth.

- However, this amendment is more and more criticized after many school shootings and shootings
in the USA. The one mentioned in document 2 (“killing of
32 people at Virginia Tech in 2007 and also the shooting of Representative Gabrielle
Giffords of Arizona and 18 others in 2011, the bills that were introduced came almost to
nothing. Nonetheless, in December 2012, after a young gunman carrying semi-automatic
weapons killed 27 people, including 20 kids, at the Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown,
Connecticut, the age-old debate became topical again.”) is Sandy hook which took place in 2012
and is still considered one of the most fatal and terrible shootings as the children killed were very
young. This direct attack on the youth and the future of America started a debate about whether or
not the second Amendment was still defensible as it caused the deaths of the very children it was
supposed to protect.

Transition: thus, these events and the ambivalent consideration of the Second Amendment lead to a
division within American society of the perception of gun ownership.

II. Divided society

- The pro-gun lobby is still going strong with the NRA and the million of members (4,3 million in
doc 1) that they have. They are a very prominent group and their members are still rising as stated
in document 2 (“gun sales have soared in recent weeks. In the month since the Newtown shooting
250,000 more people have joined the NRA”). They are also closely linked to the republican parties
known for having more conservative values and beliefs including affinity for the second
amendment. Both are in agreement to say that gun control will not be the right answer against gun
violence (“not solve the problems at hand” for a Republican executive). They advocate for armed
guards or more security rather than gun control and more background checks on weapons.

- On the opposite side of the spectrum President Obama is said to want to take the NRA “head-on)
and as a more liberal Democrat wishes for more background checks and groundbreaking laws
which has been done since 1968 (document 2). Background checks on gun ownership is his main
argument to prevent more deaths as the USA is already the country with the most guns per
inhabitant and since 900 more Americans have been killed by guns since Sandy Hook.
- The overall issue is the lack of consensus between all the different sides which creates disharmony
and arguments about the real reason why gun violence is so persistent: Democrats believe it is
because guns are too easily acquired and Republicans and pro-gun allies believe it is because people
are not protected and armed enough. Therefore this point of contention becomes societal and
political as well and crystallizes the tension within the country. Now the question remains as to
what could be done to solve this issue of gun control.

III. Solutions

- Obama’s solutions: More laws and a tighter control on the background checks and the NRA. He
offers a tighter law than Clinton’s in 1994 (doc 2) and wishes that everyone could rally together
behind him and Grace, the child he uses as an example and a victim of gun violence (Sandy Hook
victim. He is not alone in this fight as the media has also taken over linking gun related deaths and
gun control ‘doc 3) as they demonstrate the obvious: more gun control means lass gun deaths,
which exemplified by the cases of Japan and Wales.

- Nonetheless, the more conservative and pro-gun allies will say that guns are a means of protection
and that they should still be available of need be. The solutions would be more education (NRA
program for the youth evoked in the second document) and more armed protection in school.

- Other solution: more homogeneous rules/control (national rules maybe) instead of each state doing
what they want (doc 1)

- Change in mentality is a necessity