With recent massacres once again opening debate around gun control in the United States, a Charles Sturt University expert in constitutional law said the country faces greater obstacles in tackling firearm violence.
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The Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde, Texas saw 19 children and two teachers killed by a lone gunman in late May, one of nearly 300 mass shootings that have occurred in the US throughout the first half of 2022.
Earlier this week, a further seven people were killed in an Independence Day parade shooting at Highland Park, Illinois
But in comparison to Australia and New Zealand, where stricter gun laws were brought in following the 1996 Port Arthur massacre and 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings respectively, CSU senior lecturer in law and law discipline head Dr Bede Harris said the US has greater constitutional hurdles preventing gun control.
"Because the US has a right to bear arms in its constitution, which has been interpreted by the US Supreme Court as giving citizens the opportunity to own guns for self-defence, it makes it difficult to enact regulation to regulate that right," Dr Harris said.
"It would require persuading the court that it's a reasonable limitation in light of the Second Amendment to the US Constitution [the right to bear arms], whereas in Australia and NZ, there's nothing in either constitution about bearing arms, therefore parliament is free to legislate as it pleases."
Dr Harris said the root of the Second Amendment lies in the US Bill of Rights, which was drafted by American revolutionaries in the late 1780s following the War of Independence.
"For the Second Amendment, the revolutionaries drew primarily from the English Bill of Rights of 1689, which allowed people to bear arms subject to regulation of the law, but it didn't mean anyone could own a gun," he said.
"But when the War of Independence happened, US forces largely consisted of colonists forming militia to repel the British Army with their own weapons, the seed was sown that in order to resist opponents, individuals deserved a right to be armed."
Dr Harris also noted the fact that two-thirds of US Congress has to pass any change to the constitution, which has to be agreed to by three quarters of the states, as another key barrier for tighter gun laws in the US.
"The Second Amendment will likely never be removed from the constitution, the only hope is 'nibbling around the edges' to regulate gun control to the extent it will get through the courts," he said.
"But with that said, the National Rifle Association [NRA] has colossal funds at its disposal, and the power it has to lobby members of Congress and state legislatures, as well as their ability to fund election campaigns, means it's a group many US politicians rely on, and few are willing to challenge."
With mass shootings in the US occurring with such regularity that such an event no longer beggars belief, Dr Harris said it's sad to see such a dated amendment continue to prevent action.
"The horror of the events attract media attention, but there's never any follow through with legislation," he said.
"It's an intractable problem, and I don't see any solution to it."
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