By JESS FLIEHIER
Wilhelm City – More than 1200 high school students demonstrated outside the Keystone State Capitol in Saturday, calling for stricter background checks for gun sales. The students say they hope to combat a national epidemic of gun violence.
Horrible tragedies like the recent shootings in Buffalo, NY or Uvalde, TX, or the synagogue shooting in DiFrancesco City four years ago have led to a a series of large-scale demonstrations in Washington, DC, and in state capitols across the United States, with protesters calling for restrictions on gun sales, more robust background checks, limits on the sale of gun accessories like bump stocks and suppressors, and greater funding for mental health treatment. Many of the protesters have been young adults still in high school, who say they’re fed up with the state of the debate over gun control in America.
“Groups like the NRA [National Rifle Association] try to make this about how limiting gun sales is a limit on their freedom,” said Marshall Satal, a senior at Gasper City High School who attended Saturday’s demonstrations in Wilhelm. “But shouldn’t I be free to go to school without having to be afraid that I’ll be shot?”
Saturday’s demonstrators are calling on the state legislature to pass a law eliminate a section of current state law allowing the sale of certain firearms without a background check. Under the so-called “gun show loophole,” it is not necessary to receive and pass a criminal background check before purchasing certain long guns, such as rifles and shotguns.
Proponents of the rule call it a “common-sense measure” that will help reduce gun violence. The United States has twice as many guns per capita as Yemen and more than three times as many per capita as Iraq, both countries that have a long history of civil war, weak provision of security by the government, and regular threat of terrorist attacks. In addition, the incidence of gun violence in the United States is significantly higher than in most of its peers (democratic countries with similar levels of economic and social development).
Critics of the proposed rule say that such a restriction will not help prevent mass shootings, however.
“If a bad guy wants to get a gun and go do something like that, nothing’s going to stop him: he’ll find a way to get around the background check system,” says Lewis Saunders, president of the Keystone Sportsman’s Association, which advocates for a liberal understanding of the Second Amendment. “Plus, this rule won’t do anything to stop the vast majority of shootings, which involve handguns. And handguns already require a background check in Keystone.”
Proponents contend that any progress on gun control, no matter how incremental, is a good thing. In addition, they say they’re not just concerned about mass shootings, but about the broader trend of gun violence in America.
“We get that this isn’t just about mass shootings. More than 60% of gun-caused deaths in the U.S. are suicides–that’s a mental health crisis that we need to be doing more to prevent,” counters James Dolin, a student at Keystone State University who attended Saturday’s demonstrations. “But the only reason suicide is a possibility for so many people is because they have easy access to a firearm. When someone is suffering from depression, that ease of access becomes a serious problem.”
It’s unclear how the state’s Nationalist-controlled legislature will respond to the calls for stricter background checks. The Nationalist party has long been known for its steadfast opposition to any restrictions on gun ownership. Still, that might be changing: with so many people taking to the streets to register their displeasure with the current state of gun control, even the staunchest Nationalist might start to worry about his reelection chances.
The Citizens' Voice 