CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, LOS ANGELES | POLICY RESEARCH PAPER | POLS 462 PUBLIC POLICY | | Victor Chang | 3/18/2013 |

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It can be easily argued that we are currently living in a culture of violence. As we watch, read or listen to the news; daily incidents of individuals becoming victims of gun violence trumps the headlines. With tragic incidents such as the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Newtown, Connecticut that occurred in December of 2012, as well as the mass shooting in Aurora, Colorado in July of 2012 occurring less than six months away from each other, prompted debate on a national level regarding the importance of gun control and mental illness. Other highly publicized mass shootings, such as the one that occurred in Tucson, Arizona in January of 2011, involving former US Representative Gabrielle Giffords and the mass shooting at Virginia Tech, along with the two events mentioned above, “all shared two common characteristics: all four shooters were mentally ill, and all four used guns with large capacity magazines, allowing them to fire multiple rounds of ammunition without reloading (Barry, 2013).” As the Second Amendment guarantees an individual’s right to bear arms, the issue at hand is: how can the government prevent guns from landing in the wrong hands, while at the same time, providing better mental health services for those in need.

In this paper, I will explore and compare the agenda setting process regarding two landmark gun control legislations that were passed along with the agenda setting process today – proposed by President Obama in the wake of the tragic shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

As discussed in the New England Journal of Medicine, it could be easily argued that public opinion regarding gun control and “various violence-preventing proposals, including policies affecting persons with mental illness; past research findings on Americans’ attitudes about policies for curbing gun violence need to be updated (Barry, 2013).” Even though the Second Amendment guarantees an individual’s right to bear arms, President Obama believes that “most gun owners are responsible and law-abiding and uses their guns safely (The White House, 2013).” But in order for the government to be able to better protect the community from tragic mass shootings like those in Newton, Aurora, Oak Creek and Tucson, the President has proposed four “Common-sense steps (The White House, 2013)” that can potentially reduce gun violence. The plan includes: “1. closing background check loopholes to keep guns out of dangerous hands. 2. Banning military style assault weapons and high capacity magazines. 3. Making schools safer and 4. Increasing access to mental health services (The White House, 2013).”

Along with the president’s proposal, in the Capitol, leaders of both House and Senate committees have also come together to discuss the current state of the nation’s mental health policies. In the Senate, the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee met on January 24th in order to assess the nation’s mental health system. HELP Chairman, Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa stated that he looked forward “to bring together experts to examine our current mental health system and how the federal government can ensure that people and communities who need help for mental health conditions have timely access to the services they require (Attias, 2013).” In the House, Representative Tim Murphy, the chairman of the House and Commerce Oversight subcommittee, “plans to hold a series of hearings to examine policies and educate lawmakers on the issue. He’s especially interested in the state of federal funding for mental health programs (Attias, 2013).”

The President’s initiative to reduce gun violence includes both legislative proposals (that would ultimately need to be approved by congress) and also executive decisions he can make on his own. Requiring background checks for all gun sales would prevent the gun from landing in the wrong hands. Even though the Brady Act established the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, 40% of all guns are still being sold among private sellers that are exempt from federally mandated background checks. The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 had previously banned military style assault weapons and high capacity magazines, however, the legislation had sunset in 2004. “A survey by the Police Executive Research Forum found that more than one-third of police departments reported an increase in criminals sue of assault weapons and high capacity magazines since the prohibition of high-capacity magazines and assault weapons expired in 2004 (The White House, 2013).” The president also proposed to hire 1,000 new school resource officers and school counselors that could help to prevent school crime and student-on-student violence. The president also said, “We are going to need to work on making access to mental health care as easy as access to a gun (The White House, 2013).” Even though the majority of Americans with mental illnesses are not considered violent, recent mass shootings have shown that certain case of mental illness can lead to unpredictable situations when not properly treated.
The following is a list of congressional actions for President Obama’s Gun Control Proposal: * Requiring criminal background checks for all gun sales, including those by private sellers that currently are exempt. * Reinstating and strengthening the ban on assault weapons that was in place from 1994 to 2004. * Limiting ammunition magazines to 10 rounds. * Banning the possession of armor-piercing bullets by anyone other than members of the military and law enforcement. * Increasing criminal penalties for "straw purchasers," people who pass the required background check to buy a gun on behalf of someone else. * Acting on a $4 billion administration proposal to help keep 15,000 police officers on the street. * Confirming President Obama's nominee for director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. * Eliminating a restriction that requires the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to allow the importation of weapons that are more than 50 years old. * Financing programs to train more police officers, first responders and school officials on how to respond to active armed attacks. * Provide additional $20 million to help expand a system that tracks violent deaths across the nation from 18 states to 50 states. * Providing $30 million in grants to states to help schools develop emergency response plans. * Providing financing to expand mental health programs for young people.
(NY Times Staff, 2013)

According to the survey published by the New England Journal of Medicine, the majority of Americans, support stricter regulations to keep handguns away from people who are under the age of 21, and block ownership of any guns for 10 years by individuals who were involved with domestic violence incidents, or committed two or more drug or alcohol related crimes (Barry, 2013). The survey also showed that the majority of respondents supported greater government spending and insurance coverage for mental healthcare to prevent gun violence. The survey published by Colleen Barry at John Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health said, "Given the data on public attitudes about persons with mental illness, it is worth thinking carefully about how to implement effective gun-violence-prevention measures without exacerbating stigma or discouraging people from seeking treatment” (Barry, 2013).

Gun control and regulation first presented itself as an issue during the 1960s as many prominent figures were assassinated by gun fire. These people included President John F Kennedy, Senator Robert Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In response to the public outcry, Congress enacted the Gun Control Act of 1968 which identified individuals who are considered “too high risk to own a gun. These potentially dangerous or high risk people included felons, youth, and the dangerously mentally ill (Brady Campaign).” The issue with the 1968 Gun Control Act was that even though an individual may have been classified as one of the groups mentioned above, they were still able to purchase guns because an honor system was used, where guns could still be purchased with false information. During an assassination attempt of President Ronald Regan in March of 1981, the shooter, John Hickley had provided false information when he purchased his gun, but was not caught because there was no background check system in place. President Bill Clinton signed the Brady Handgun Violence Protection Act into Law on November 30, 1993 as it ultimately required a criminal background check to be conducted on every gun bought and sold by a licensed dealer. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the “Brady Bill” has successfully prevented 1.9 million purchase attempts from dangerous individuals at gun stores (Bowling, Frandsen, & Lauver, 2010).

Prior to the 1980’s, the main focus on gun control was directed towards handguns. Public and political attention shifted towards the ban on assault weapons after the “Stockton Massacre.” On January 17, 1989, Patrick Purdy, armed with a semi-automatic AK-47 rifle, fired upon a schoolyard, killing five children and injuring 29 others. This incident outraged the public as gun control advocates demanded the abolishment of assault weapons (DeMay, 1994). Congress then introduced the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, and under the Federal Assault Weapons Ban, it made it unlawful for any person to “manufacture, transfer, or possess a semiautomatic assault weapon (Congress of the United States, 1994).” The legislation called for a ten year ban on the manufacture, transfer or possession of 19 semi-automatic assault weapons. The law also banned certain shotguns, semi-automatic pistols and possession of any newly manufactured high capacity magazines (holding more than ten rounds of ammunition). Due to a sunset provision, the Assault Weapons Ban expired on September 14, 2004.

Apart from the federal ban on assault weapons, the act also allocated $30.2 billion for crime control and related social programs. State and local law enforcement also received $10.8 billion of this money geared towards crime prevention. The act also provided $1.6 billion to fight violence against women, including money to hire more police, prosecutors and judges along with money for rape-education and community prevention programs (DeMay, 1994). When President Clinton signed the act into law on September 13 1994, he declared it to be the “toughest and smartest crime bill in our history (Abrams, 2004)” With the goal of ultimately reducing crime, improving social services to children, women and local law enforcement, this landmark act ultimately provided questionably results.

As the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act’s effectiveness is still being debated, some have argued that the provisions in banning assault weapons had only very limited impact. John Allen Muhammad, who was known as the Washington DC area sniper, had “allegedly used an assault weapon the manufacture had modified by removing two military-type components, thus escaping the ban (Abrams, 2004).” Even though the ban restricted the manufacturing, buying and selling of assault rifles, owners who were in possession of the assault rifles prior to the ban, were not affected by the law. With the assault weapons ban expiring on September 14, 2004, it is again possible to purchase a “high military grade assault rifle.” It will ultimately be up to Congress to reenact the ban to prevent having these dangerous high powered weapons from ending up in the wrong hands.

In addition to preventing 1.9 million attempts by high-risk individuals to purchase a gun from a federally licensed gun dear, since the Brady Bill was enacted in February of 1994, murders had declined 30% (from 24,526 to 17,034 – from 1994 through 2006). According to the Brady Center Report, murders reported in 2009, have been in the lowest (15,241) since 1970 (Knox, 2008). Proponents of the Brady Bill have declared that they feel the government should do more to ensure that all guns being sold in the market are accounted for. As the Brady Bill only requires criminal background checks to be conducted on purchased made from a federally licensed firearm dealer, transactions made between unlicensed sellers are exempt from the background checks. The main issue, as addressed by President Obama in his proposal, is that convicted felons, domestic violence offenders, or individuals who are mentally ill are still able to purchase guns from private sellers that are not registered with the federal government. The goal is for all buyers to be subject to an extensive background check when guns are purchased or transferred.

President Obama is currently facing the same difficulties as President Clinton, prior to him signing in the two laws in 1993 and 1994. Face with public demands for the government to react to mass shootings; and to come up with solutions that would ultimately protect the people, while in the same time not violate their constitutional rights. Gun control has always been a hot topic as it has always been difficult to draw the fine line between a person’s right to bear arms and the government’s right to regulate. There will always be proponents and opponents to the cause. What will ultimately make this policy successful is when the public comes to realize the government is and will always serve in the interest of its people.

One can say that policy making is a rigorous and frustrating process. It may take something that is shocking to our senses for us to react, but in the same time, have the opportunity to enact change. President Obama’s 2013 proposal, unlike the previous two legislations, stresses the importance of providing mental health services to the people. As he stated, he wants access to mental health care as easy as gaining access to a gun. Mental health issues were not headlining factors to previous gun control legislations. But in current times, the only constant in the recent mass shootings have been mental illness in correlation with the access to high powered assault rifles along with large capacity magazines. The President and Congress will ultimately have to focus on the two to hopefully prevent any future tragedies from happening.
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