Military Training is Not the Answer to Gun Safety, Nor Gun Control

Stanley McChrystal’s article strongly argues more government action towards gun control. In addition, the argument that “closing these gaps” in our gun control laws will not make a difference and that, “dangerous people will obtain guns in our country no matter what, and therefore… taking steps to make it harder for them is fruitless.” is a legitimate argument. McChrystal believes otherwise, specifically that such argument is “both poor logic and poor leadership.”, which is ignorant of the complexity of the gun control debate. His ethos appeal is strong, however, due to his credibility as a former commander of U.S. and International forces within the Joint Special Operations Command in Afghanistan. His participation in the Veterans Coalition for Common Sense, furthermore reinforces his integrity as well as his argument that more action towards gun control needs to be made. While he admits that it is not possible to stop every attack involving gun violence, he believes that at least trying would be worth it. What he does not bring up is the amount of resources, time, and effort that would have to be put forth to basically change the Second Amendment. People, the government, and many pro-gun organizations (such as the hugely influential lobbyist group, the NRA) would put up an intense fight to protect their rights. As McChrystal states himself, “We Americans are not a uniquely bloodthirsty people… We are not unique in facing down the threat of global terrorism and active shooters.”. While our gun death rate may be “uniquely” high, there are also other “unique” ways of dealing with this situation and there is always a compromise to be found. I agree that those that served in the U.S. military were “trained in the effective and safe use of firearms,” not everyone has access to or the motivation to receive the same intense training for simply obtaining the right to handle a gun. Yes, background checks should be modified to further the exclusivity of owning a gun, however that does not mean people who don’t have military experience should be excluded. I believe McChrystal’s theory that a number of our politicians and population “promote a culture of gun ownership that does not conform with what [he] learned in the military.”, is absolutely correct in the fact that gun ownership is not equivalent to military uniform ownership. People have a Constitutional right to own guns. How gun ownership is obtained, in any case, should be revised in regards to background checks. That does not mean that the citizen population should be subjected to military training.