#3

     For my third blog post, I will be analyzing two polar opposites: the Constitution Party and the Green Party. More specifically, I will be analyzing the different opinions they have on gun control and the people’s right to owning firearms. I will not be comparing, but explaining their arguments and where their logic comes from. This will be biased because I do like shooting guns and would like my constitutional rights. I will also be analyzing one of California’s congressional representative Jackie Speier, from the 14th district of California, and her views on gun control.

     The first Political Party that I analyzed is the Constitution Party. Their mission statement is as follows: The mission of the Constitution Party is to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity through the election, at all levels of government, of Constitution Party candidates who will uphold the principles of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, and the Bill of Rights. It is our goal to limit the federal government to its delegated, enumerated, Constitutional functions. This loyalty to the Constitution appears in all of the issues they cover, including gun rights. The main pillar of their argument is the Second Amendment, which states that “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.” The Constitution makes their argument very simple, we all have the right to own a gun because it makes this country more secure. The Constitution Party wants the public to be safe and able to fight against tyranny and crime by banning laws that restrict our rights to owning a gun. The Constitution Party’s political point of view is simple: following the rules and laws set fourth by the founding fathers, using them as guidelines for future laws should be the way of governance. The argument that the Constitution Party is making exclusively involves the 2nd amendment. Their evidence is irrefutable because it is part of the Constitution, but there are current events that have happened that raise the question of whether or not allowing a whole variety of dangerous weapons to be released to the public will benefit the public instead of having more mass shootings. This party has not ignored these shootings because they talk about how a law-abiding citizen would be able to defend himself and others against criminals.

     The Second Party that I am analyzing is the Green Party, which has completely different views of guns than the Constitution Party. Being a liberal party, the Green Party does not like how many mass shootings there have been recently. Their mission statement is as follows: The Green Party of the United States (GPUS), is an independent political party that is connected to American social movements, and is part of a global Green movement that shares key values, including our Four Pillars: Peace and Non-Violence, Ecological Wisdom, Grassroots Democracy, and Social Justice, and our Ten Key Values. Since I couldn’t find any section related to gun rights/control on the Green Party’s website, I went to one of their representatives: Jill Stein. She talks about enacting laws that ban the manufacturing of guns and the loopholes that avoid the Second amendment. The Green Party is Liberal, so I would assume that they are totally against guns and want to get them out of everyone’s hands. Jill Stein brought up that background checks must be in place, which I agree with and thought was already a thing: ”It was mandated by the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (Brady Law) of 1993 and launched by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in 1998.” Jill also mentioned that gun show loopholes needed to be stopped. These are poorly fabricated, misleading statements that need some context. The severity of the problem that the Green Party is bringing up is severe. As Jill Stein states, there are about 260 deaths a day due to guns, but this isn’t as bad compared to the 1,300 smoking deaths. Their argument is that guns should be highly restricted and regulated. The Green Party’s solution would make it harder for one to acquire a firearm legally, but over 80 percent of mass shootings are done with illegally purchased/acquired firearms. The way that you sell/buy guns at a gun show is the same way you sell/buy a gun in a store: you have to have a Federal Firearms License and the seller HAS TO do an instant background check, which can take days to complete. If you walk away from a gun show with a gun, without having done a background check AND without a proper permit for that gun, you or the seller have broken the law, you have NOT created a loophole.

     Next, I will analyze a politician, Jackie Speier of the 14th congressional district of California, and her views on gun control. But first, an overview of her values: Jackie’s main values are women’s rights, the well being of the people, and national security. She has been an advocate for many women’s rights movements including sexual harassment and assault in the military and on college campuses. She was also leading in the movements to close gender wage gaps. Being shot five times and almost dying because of it, Jackie recovered fully to defend the lives of the common people. She helped with organizing the U.S. military’s resources and investigating corrupt and fraudulous officials in power. Here is an article that I found on Jackie’s gun control opinions. This article explains the point of view that Jackie has on gun violence. She doesn’t directly say that assault rifles and other weapons should be banned, but instead says that we should ban laws that prevent research on gun violence. I think that there could be stuff to learn about mass shootings, but I disagree that there is anything we can do about it. You can’t stop people from going crazy and you can’t reason with them. There will always be messed up people that we have to watch out for. Gun shooting deaths are way lower than the other things mentioned like tobacco and alcohol deaths, which puts this problem into perspective. Just because shootings are “popular” nowadays makes it seem like a bigger problem than it actually is.