This article is part one of three in a series on issues surrounding gun control.
As the school day was just beginning at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. on Dec. 14, 2012, 20 year-old Adam Lanza took the lives of 26 people, including 20 students between six and seven years old and six adults. Earlier that day, Lanza killed his mother, Nancy Lanza, and later took his own life as law enforcement officers arrived at the school.
One of the deadliest school shootings in the United States, the Sandy Hook shooting prompted a stricken nation to flood a small, traumatized community with condolences. More than that, the shooting provoked a major resurfacing of the long-debated issue of gun control.
Debate surrounding interpretations of the Second Amendment's "right to bear arms" is not new to national politics. This discourse is driven by increasingly frequent and traumatic mass shootings, including those at Columbine High School, Virginia Tech, an Amish school in Nickel Mines, Penn., Fort Hood military base in Texas, "Congress on Your Corner" in Tucson, Ariz., the movie theater in Aurora, Colo. and now Sandy Hook Elementary School.
"The primary political implication is that it put gun control back on the congressional agenda where it's been largely absent for quite a long time," Professor of Political Science Jeffrey Berry said. "It doesn't mean they will necessarily do anything, but they will consider legislation and they will decide whether or not to move it forward to the President's desk."
Beyond the debate in Washington, the shootings sparked the attention of the American public. According to a Washington Post-ABC News poll conducted earlier this month, 52 percent of Americans say that they are more supportive of gun control in the wake of the Newtown shooting.
"What you see over and over again is that ... on most issues, people aren't paying really close attention and so opinions tend to move very slowly," Dean of Academic Affairs for Arts and Sciences James Glaser said. "But dramatic events shine a spotlight onto problems, and the Newtown shootings were a kind of dramatic event that shined a spotlight on a number of problems [including] guns, mental health [and] school safety."
Dynamic of Obama's second term
Described by President Barack Obama as the worst day yet of his presidency, the shooting in Newtown compelled the President to act. Obama appointed Vice President Joe Biden to lead a task force to discuss the issue of gun violence and create policy proposals for the President.
Within a week of the shooting, Biden led the first of this task force's many meetings, and over the course of the following weeks, Biden had met with various stakeholders and interest groups, including law enforcement officers, members of the mental health community, gun owners and the National Rifle Association (NRA), interfaith groups, large retailers and representatives of the entertainment industry.
Just a month after the shooting, Biden presented Obama with his recommendations for policies to curb gun violence. A few days later, Obama announced 23 executive orders, circumventing Congress and addressing factors such as the federal background check system, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and mental health.
"Even though a lot of the executive orders are simply clarifying existing policy, reminding people what existing policy is, the fact that [Obama] basically went for it is a really powerful symbol," Associate Professor of Political Science Deborah Schildkraut said.
The President simultaneously proposed to Congress that they pass laws requiring universal background checks, restoring the ban on military-style assault weapons that expired in 2004, and banning gun magazines with more than 10 rounds.
While many of these proposed bills are being re-filed or introduced at both the state and national level, the ultimate verdict of Obama's legislative proposal remains unknown. Regardless of the outcome, Obama's bold action on the issue indicates the assertive nature he brings to his second term.
"I think the President, by issuing ... his executive orders, [has] done what he could do within the parameters of his power to make change," Glaser said. "I think he's liberated somewhat by the fact that he's not up for reelection again, [that he is] at his peak in his power given the proximity to an election where he's the only nationally elected figure in this country."
Obama's executive orders could encourage other legislators who may be interested in advancing gun control, though might have felt too timid or lacking executive support for their efforts, Schildkraut said. Nevertheless, the dynamic in Congress is one of obstinacy.
"Relations between the parties are just so bad right now ... I think [Speaker of the United States House of Representatives John] Boehner's response was essentially, 'Let's wait and see what the Senate gives us,' because he knows that the Republican-led House isn't going to do much to advance this first," Schildkraut said. "[Senate Majority Leader] Harry Reid basically said, 'We don't want to just make noise if the Senate is going to pass something, I want it to be something that I think could pass the House.' So if you think about some of the things that Obama proposed that need congressional approval, a lot of them are going to have a real tough time getting passed."
The various organizations both for and against gun control maintain leverage in the debate in Washington: those in favor of gun control - for example the Brady Campaign and Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG) - stand against the gun lobby, primarily represented by the NRA.
"It's very interesting to compare the pro-gun and anti-gun lobbies because one is big and powerful and effective, and the other is weak and small and ineffective," Glaser said.
According to Schildkraut, an unevenness exists between the two sides -- advocates of the NRA care passionately about this issue all the time, other Americans care passionately only in light of drastic events such as the Newtown shooting.
"We might see more public opinion and support of gun control pick up, but a lot of this really is going to come down to which side pressures lawmakers and that kind of stuff," Schildkraut said. "Traditionally, the advantage has been on the anti-gun control side."
The reaction to Obama's executive orders has varied. While they may be a powerful symbol for the gun control supporters, the gun lobby has argued that he is exploiting his executive power.
"It's scary to me, and not just as a gun owner, that this is a president using executive orders quite liberally and far-reaching," senior Adam Cohen, who has been a recreational and sport shooter for eight years, said. "It's a slippery slope because the Second Amendment is just that, it's an amendment, and you have a president who is taking a very specific stance on it and using executive powers to limit it," he said.
Background checks
Two significant issues at the forefront of the conversation are the background check system and restrictions on what are considered "military-style assault weapons."
Tufts' Gun Club founder Nick Vik, a senior, argued that background checks are necessary and there are glaring issues in the policies of the United States when private sales lack legal oversight and loopholes are exploited.
"While there definitely is a place for guns in our society - I don't believe that guns should be banned 100 percent - I think that there needs to be much stricter control on who is able to get a gun, and I think it needs to be much more difficult to get a gun," Vik said. "I think the process should be extended, you need to have a background check and psychological evaluations are essential to determining who should be able to have a gun."
Tufts University Police Department (TUPD) Sergeant Robert McCarthy has found the process to be fair, leading him to believe that guns and gun licenses are reasonable as long as people undergo the process of a thorough background check.
"I don't think if you have a criminal record for certain crimes you should be able to have a weapon or a gun permit," he said. "If you've been arrested for domestic assaults, drug offenses, alcohol offenses, you shouldn't be able to have a weapon, that's just how I feel."
Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg initiated Mayors Against Illegal Guns (MAIG) in 2006 to provide leadership on the issue of gun violence and the proliferation of guns. Now consisting of more than 800 mayors, the coalition has worked to report data to make their case.
"I think the number one priority right now for Mayor Menino is fixing the broken background checks system," Federal Relations Officer for Menino's Office of Intergovernmental Relations Jake Sullivan said. "Last year, 6.6 million guns were sold in this country without a background check. So we believe, and the President has put it out there, and most NRA and gun owners agree, that we should have strong background checks."
Not all completely agree, though. Cohen believes that the existing system needs to be reigned in.
"For what we've started with improving background checks and needing tighter restrictions on that kind of thing, we already have very strict laws," he said. "In Connecticut, they have a 14 day waiting period, a strict background check policy and even their own statewide idea of the assault weapons ban. And yet [the Newtown attack] happened because his mother bought them."
Instead of stricter background checks, Cohen suggested the creation of an administrative center for guns and ammunition, which would allow a state to regulate the sale of guns.
"You would run all gun licensing, all gun sales, all ammunition sales through this store," Cohen said. "That would solve the issue of the store owner doing shady background checks because they would have access to federal and local databases, and you would say these are government employees."
According to Schildkraut, legislation with a focus on improving the effectiveness of background checks may have more success in Congress.
"I think one that might have a better chance of getting passed has to do with background checks, because that's something already in place," she said. "People are used to it, it's simply a matter of making them more widespread, more foolproof, making them happen at things like gun shows."
"Assault weapons"
The proposed ban on military-style assault weapons, though, is considered a long shot in Congress, despite the gun control lobby's efforts. Although not part of its original agenda, MAIG has added this proposal in light of many recent massacres that involve these weapons.
"Since all of those mass shootings had occurred during the coalition's existence, the mayors started to take on new policy ground that we really should not have those weapons and magazines with that many bullets on our streets," Sullivan said. "Those weapons are designed to kill large numbers of people quickly and ... the mayors felt strongly that we really needed to look at the expired assault weapons ban of 2004 and draft a new law that's clear and enforceable and will take those weapons out of our community."
The interpretation of the Second Amendment plays a significant role in determining whether or not a ban on assault weapons would be constitutional.
"My beliefs on the Second Amendment are that ... people have a right to own guns. I take a slightly more literalist interpretation when it comes down to what are people allowed to own," Cohen said. "For example, when someone uses the argument the Second Amendment doesn't say you can own an assault weapon or an AR-15, I say it says we can own guns. The state that guns have evolved into is irrelevant because you can own them."
Cohen added, however, that he does believe there is a need for a control on who can own guns.
In 1994, the Federal Assault Weapons Ban was passed, prohibiting the manufacturing of 18 specific models of semi-automatic weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines that have the potential to carry more than 10 rounds. The ban expired in 2004.
"I'm of the opinion that the cat is out of the bag when it comes to the assault weapons ban," Cohen said. "There's just no point in having one anymore because even if you took the already loose interpretation of the previous assault weapons ban ... the number of assault weapons that would be grandfathered into the law is so mind boggling now, probably somewhere in the 80 to 100 million gun range, that the ban would do nothing."
According to Executive Director of the Gun Owners' Action League (GOAL) - the official firearms state association for Massachusetts - Jim Wallace, the so-called assault weapon is an arbitrary term that suggests a semi-automatic rifle, which has been common since before World War II.
"The term means nothing," Cohen said. "Before 1994, the term didn't exist because there is no such thing as an assault weapon. It's frequently confused with an assault rifle, which is a military weapon. And the only thing between an assault weapon and an assault rifle is an appearance," Cohen said.
Massachusetts
Like Obama, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick has taken the initiative in putting forward gun control legislation. Just over a month after the Newtown shooting, Patrick proposed a bill with a number of measures, which include limiting gun owners to one firearm purchase a month, restricting access to high-capacity ammunition and requiring background checks at gun shows. Additionally, four new firearms-related crimes would be established.
"One of the big things that we've supported and the Governor has tried to get passed is currently, Massachusetts does not submit records to the NICS [National Instant Criminal Background Check System] database," Sullivan said. "They're one of a handful of states that does not provide records to the background checks system. There are a lot of issues that need to be worked out...and issues around privacy that have to be sorted out in order to become NICS compliant."
Patrick's bill would mandate that state courts submit all relevant mental health records to the criminal justice information systems. Wallace argued that the proposals do not do enough to address gun violence and crime.
"The first thing is to throw out about half of the governor's legislation . . . because again it only deals with restrictions on what the people who have already got licensed can own and possess and transfer," Wallace said. "They need to focus on the human criminal element, the mental health issue."
McCarthy explained that in Massachusetts, the process varies in each city or town, but ultimately, the process of getting a gun license requires submitting an application and undergoing a background check. With respect to mass shootings, TUPD is prepared.
"We do train on these shootings, we've been doing it for seven or eight years for active shooters...with some of our officers that are qualified to teach the course," McCarthy said. "Hopefully we'll never do it, hopefully it's a waste of time, but if something like that does happen, we have been trained for it."
