The Boston Globe has declared its support for passing legislative restrictions on gun ownership and outrage towards mass shootings after the terrorist attack in Orlando, Florida last weekend with a call to #MakeItStop.
Beginning with a reference to the inarticulate nature of the Second Amendment and the ease of purchasing weapons and ammunition, The Boston Globe cuts to the chase, stating that “These weren’t the guns, and this wasn’t the America, that the Founders foresaw. That is why we need a new assault weapons ban, written for the realities we face in 2016.”
This rallying cry for assault weapon restrictions is immediately followed by an acknowledgement that a ban on such weapons would not reduce the overall amount of violent gun crime, but instead reduce the violence of certain crimes.
According to the Globe, ownership of these weapons has contributed to the “zealotry” of the NRA’s fans and America’s “unhealthy gun fetish”: suggesting that Americans only “feel that they need to own” assault weapons or others.
Closing the piece is an apocalyptic suggestion that the nation will continue to see mass shootings, which will continue to increase if the use of semiautomatic assault weapons are not banned outright.
These claims contrast with some existing research on the issue, including a recent Pew Research Center analysis of DOJ statistics, showing a steady decrease in the rate of violent gun crime in the United States since 1993.
A CDC study found that gang violence accounts for 80 percent of gun-related homicides. Despite that the US has the highest number of guns owned per-capita, is only ranked 28 in gun homicides worldwide, according to information gathered by The Guardian.
Debate and the push for gun restrictions continues on, as Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut finished a nearly 15-hour filibuster early this morning over two new proposed measures on gun control.
With gun control on the national stage once again, legislative measures are also on the brink of passing into law.