VOLUME 3 1 2 Writers in this Issue O n G u n s i n t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s Kabbas Azhar ‘13 In this issue’s edition of “Kab- Christopher Jagoe ‘14 Instead of describing bas’ Korner,” Kabbas goes on a short rant about gun rights in the current setting, Jagoe unique- another little-known fact in the United States. ly decides to support gun rights by describing In a typical Kabbas-like manner, Kabbas pres- their founding. He notes its earliest roots, go- ents several extremely dangerous weapons that ing back as far as Justinian I, and coming full are easily attainable (if you have a large wallet). circle back to John Locke, in order to support the necessity of a society free to own guns. Jack Lynch ‘14 Harkening back to a common Kevin Conn In his article, Mr. Conn goes on theme that the public has seen since the New- a lengthy discussion surrounding most issues town shooting, Lynch attacks the NRA’s most surrounding the gun debate. Most importantly, recent philosophy surrounding gun rights. Re- he looks to the proposed “solutions” that many sponding to the group’s most recent campaign left-leaning groups hold, and shows why each of “good guys vs. bad-guys,” Lynch tries to ex- of them is either counter to that group’s beliefs, plain why such a conception is utterly false and or simply unreasonable in practice. Ultimately, unreasonable. Then, Lynch attacks the NRA Mr. Conn laments: he has no panacea to gun leadership’s stance on why we ought to hire an violence, but he does not believe that more re- armed guard to protect every school across the strictions are the solution either. country, analyzing both effectiveness and cost in the modern era. Michael Cuppari ‘14 Looking specifically to the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban, Cup- pari discusses why weapon bans simply are E t C e t e r a ineffective in practice. He describes how their numerous loopholes simply make them accom- Justin Hsieh ‘15 Hsieh describes a new, seem- plish nothing, and warns against any similar ingly unnoticed trend of terrorism arising in ban from being implemented in the future. Africa. Looking particularly at the Algerian group Katibat al-Mulathameen, and their most recent attacks against an international group, Hsieh finds this new trend important and dis- turbing. Although no one seems to have a solu- Ryan Teehan ‘14 In his article, Teehan turns to tion, Hsieh believes that he has one: European an analysis of the United States prison system. powers-not the United States-need to start in- With his ever-present philosophical eye, Tee- tervening to stop this new terrorism. han looks to the actual founding of the system itself, discussing its implications in the mod- Jamie Downey ‘13 Downey describes his be- ern era. Noting, most importantly, the racial liefs surrounding the modern era’s new focus context from which our system of punishment on Middle-Eastern terrorism. Reflecting on emanates, Teehan comes to a simple conclu- how modern entertainment has fostered sev- sion: something must be changed, and a viable eral TV shows and movies that show terrorism, option would be a simple yet effective abolition Downey actually finds these depictions benefi- of the prison system itself. cial. Overall, as Downey analyzes, the fact that these forms of entertainment cause the com- mon person to question their beliefs and ana- lyze the real world shows progress. 3 4 Contents Guns in the United States F o r e w o r d 7 Ingrained in the United States Bill of Rights, gun ownership has been a characteristic of American 15 history. When the Constitution was first amended, the founders included the right of the people to keep and bear arms. In the eighteenth and nineteenth century, no citizen even fathomed a government ban on personally owned weapons. Over time, however, this principle has become less accepted and more debated. Indeed, recent events point to what some might describe a gun violence epidemic in the 17 United States; the Aurora and Newtown mass shootings are a few examples. Because of these events, policymakers have suggested new regulation to attempt to control gun crime. Does government regu- lation of over-the-table markets really reduce violence? Is gun prohibition constitutional? Most im- portantly, are there alternatives? This month, we present you a wide array of opinions concerning gun laws, including opinions on the feasibility, history, and utility of such laws. Enjoy being bombarded by our continuous and extreme bias as you read these featured articles. Also check out our other content On Guns on various interesting topics like Algerian terror and modern media depictions of war. 4 - How to Get a Minigun - Matthew Chuckran and Conor Ryan Kabbas Azhar ‘13 9 Editors in Chief 5 - Misfire: Why the NRA is Wrong About Good Guys vs. 5 Bad Guys Jack Lynch ‘14 7 - The Right to Bear Arms, How to Get a Minigun Contextualized K a b b a s A z h a r Christopher Jagoe ‘14 9 - Fear of Guns and Fear of Despite the recent resurgence of istered to civilians before 1986 was not. Loopholes are omnipresent in Government gun control legislation debate, completely legal and available in various gun legislation bills. Case Kevin Conn talks over the issue have actually the gun market. Would you like to in point, the 1994 Federal Assault permeated the political sphere for guess one such gun that passes the Weapons Ban saw a massive rise 15 - Don’t Recycle Failed Policy quite a few years. Be it through the test for legality in the public arena? in production of ‘grandfathered’ Michael Cuppari ‘14 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban Behold a wonderful 7.62 weapons in order for manufactur- or any variation thereof, there has mm, six-barreled machine gun ers to gain a profit, and that’s the been substantial political activ- with a fire rate that can sometimes reality of the situation. As long as Et Cetera ity to take care of the issue. Yet, reach up to 6,000 rounds per min- selling guns will garner a profit, beyond the question of gun regu- ute. That’s right folks, a pre-1986 and buying guns will be relatively 17 - New Terrorism lation exists one of regulation in era M134 Minigun can be owned cheap, there will not be any halt Justin Hsieh ‘15 general, and the efficacy of such by you, too, as long as you’re will- in whatever crime is being target- 18 - Entertainment: The Heart of a political maneuvers. Basically, ing to spend a substantial amount ed by gun control legislation. The Society we’re talking about loopholes here. of money on it. It might cost you loopholes are simply too many and Consider, for example, the a cool 200,000-400,000 dollars for too deep, and they will always ex- Jamie Downey ‘13 Hughes Amendment in the Fire- just the gun itself, and the ammo is ist in a situation where our consti- 20 - A Genealogy of Suffering: The arms Owners’ Protection Act of another story unto itself, but what tutional rights are even somewhat History of the U.S. Prison System 18 1986, which suspended civilian better weapon to use for the inevi- respected by the government. Ryan Teehan ‘14 ownership of any fully automatic table zombie apocalypse than the In order to truly stop gun 20 weapons not registered as of May M134? crime, solutions beyond just regu- 19, 1986. Now this might seem like I am not here to advocate lation have to be looked at, as regu- a fairly good bit of legislation to for or against gun regulation, how- lation will never be sufficient. And those in the gun regulation camp ever, what I will do is decide if reg- while you’re at it, buy yourself a if not for the fact that any gun reg- ulation will actually be effective or minigun too. 5 6 two well-marked parties of good The second issue with guys and bad guys. Although many LaPierre’s remarks is that it misses gun-owners state that their reason another key aspect of the “good for owning a gun is self-defense, in guys vs. bad guys” theory: it does reality many of these gun owners not simply take one good guy with have only introduced a tool into a gun to stop a bad guy with a gun; their homes and community that it takes a professionally-trained, makes violent crime easier and al- well-equipped good guy. LaPierre lows for seemingly mundane dis- urged for teachers and principals agreements like the one between to be armed in the wake of the Jordan Russell and Michael Dunn Newtown shooting, but he failed to escalate into tragedy. to realize that even trained police The fact of the matter is officers, federal agents, and mili- that many gun owners who end tary personnel have very limited up using their guns to commit success in stopping active shoot- crimes have no original inten- ers. After a shooting on a side- tion of doing so. In many cases, walk in midtown Manhattan this guns are used violently because past August, New York City Police of negligent misinterpretation of Department officers followed the self-defense. In the late 1990’s a shooter to a nearby side street, at team of researchers at the Har- which point the assailant turned vard School of Public Health con- around with his gun.