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Sean Coward Jr.

Professor Douglas

UWRT 1104

2/6/17

Gun laws around the World

One of the biggest problems in the United States that remains to have an impact

on society is the matter of guns, gun violence and the amount of lives that are taken.

The two articles, How do U.S. gun laws compare to other countries?, by Jonathan

Masters and Gun Control: What the U.S. can learn from other advanced countries, by

John Donohue both influence the idea that the United States have some of the strictest

gun laws but encounter a high rate of gun violence. These two authors share similar

opinions but separately focus on different topics. In the articles, the authors explain why

they believe gun violence is a problem, and how they believe it can be solved.

The article, How do U.S. gun laws compare to the other countries?, explains all

the different laws and regulations each nation has pertaining guns. Masters mentioned

many recent examples of gun violence in America, such as school shootings in

Connecticut and the mass shooting in a Charleston, South Carolina church. Masters

then began to give background on the U.S. gun laws and regulations. He also quoted

the second amendment stating: A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security

of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

(Masters, 2016, p.1) This upholds the rights for all citizens of the United Stated to keep

and bear arms without any restraint as long as they are legally registered. Masters also

provided evidence from the gun policy website which showed that the number of
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civilian-owned firearms and firearm homicide rates are nearly three times higher than

any other country. Gun law continue to be reviewed and discussed for change but no

other country seems to have that problem.

Shortly after Masters shows the statistics on the United States firearms, he then

begins to compare with other well-known countries. According to Masters, there are

some countries, like Canada for example, that allow the purchase of weaponry at a

young age. He states Federal regulations require all gun owners, who must be at least

eighteen years of age, to obtain a license that includes a background check and a

public safety course. (Masters, 2016, p.3) There are some countries like Australia and

the United Kingdom that only restrict the public from buying semi-automatic guns.

Master also discussed how some countries make the youth join the military as soon as

they are of age. This helps prevent some of the gun issues because it teaches discipline

at an early age and how they should be properly used.

The second article, although similar to the first one, had information that the first

one did not. In Gun Control: What the U.S. can learn from other advanced countries,

Donohue spent majority of the article discussing the issues with guns in the U.S. and its

laws much like how Masters began his introduction. Donohue spoke on the Charleston

church incident like Masters did but he also gave some input on the Santa Barbara killer

and how that effected society. The gun cultures worship of the magical protective

capacities of guns and their power to be wielded against perceived enemiesincluding

the federal governmentis a message that resonates with troubled individuals from

the Santa Barbara killer, who was seeking vengeance on women who had failed to

perceive his greatness, to the Charleston killer, who echoed the tea party mantra of
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taking back our country. (Donohue, 2015, p. 2) Donohue spoke more on how the U.S.

has tried to make changes in the government about gun laws as oppose to Masters

speaking mostly on the laws that are already in effect. He stated that at least eighteen

states have recently enforced laws to keep firearms safely stored while not in use.

Eighteen states in the U.S. and a number of cities including Chicago, New York and

San Francisco have tried to reduce the unlawful use of guns as well as gun accidents

by adopting laws to keep guns safely stored when they are not in use. He believes that

this is a good way of preventing acts of violence and possibly fatal situations.

Unlike the article by Masters, Donohue took the time to provide some of the main

reasoning behind issues as well as the statistics and possible solutions. He spoke on

the work that the NRA has done as an attempt to prevent gun violence. The NRA has

been working with a lot of government officials and have taken the supreme court into

account because they feel like the safety of U.S. citizens is a necessity. Donohue also

states that a lot of the problems revolving gun violence are occurring due to the recent

laws made. He also stated that recent researches from Stanford University found that

the RTC laws are associated with significant increases violent crimes. As the article

continues Donohue gives some input on the gun laws of other countries and concludes

with suggesting to the U.S. to work on coming up with an effective set of laws and

regulations that will prevent acts of violence and be acceptable for all states and

jurisdictions.

After reading both articles and analyzing the data they each provided, I

determined that Jonathon Masters article on gun control was the most effective.

Donohue made many great points on the problems with the U.S. law and the ways that
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we can improve. Masters, however, provided a better comparison of our laws with other

well developed countries and how those countries have avoided the conflicts that U.S.

have faced without the use of strict governing. Masters went more in depth with the

different styles of government that countries have and the amounts of violence that

occur. From reading his article you can see his view point is very clear, concise, and

easy to understand. He explained that the countries with stricter gun laws and

regulations suffered more gun violence and more mass murders. Unlike Masters,

Donohue took the time to give his opinion on what solutions would help the United

States. He didnt spend as much time explaining what problems have occurred in the

U.S. like Masters did. Both articles gave good points and had great explanations on the

problem with the United States, but Jonathan Masters, How do U.S. gun laws compare

to other countries?, gave the more insight on the issues at hand and a better

comparison with our countries issues compared to the rest of the world.
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Masters, Jonathan. "How do U.S. gun laws compare to other countries?" PBS. PBS,
n.d. Web. 07 Feb. 2017

Donohue, John. "What Americans Can Learn about Gun Control from Other Advanced

Countries." Newsweek. Newsweek, 13 June 2016. Web. 07 Feb. 2017.