In the past few years, gun violence in America has brought much attention to the Second Amendment’s “right to bear arms” debate. From the Tucson (Arizona) shootings, to the Aurora (Colorado) shootings, and most recently the Sandy Hook Elementary shootings, the Obama Administration had seen enough gun related deaths within the country. Since the Newtown, Connecticut shootings, President Obama and his fellow Democrats have ambitiously made it their goal to tackle the issue and recently sent a package of gun restrictive laws to Congress to amend and ratify.

The bill voted on was a series of amendments to the package, which included expanding the current background checks required when purchasing a firearm, and bans on assault weapons and high-capacity gun magazines. The bill required 60 votes in the Senate and despite a recent poll conducted by ABC which showed that 86% of Americans supported some form of gun control (including current gun owners themselves), the proposed bill ultimately fell short with only 54 “Yea” votes. This was prevented by an NRA-led backlash which provoked many conservative Republicans, as well as a few Democrats from pro-gun states, to vote against the bill.

A very angered-looking president delivered the news outside of the White House on Wednesday, April 17th. He was flanked by a somber Vice President Biden, former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords and relatives of gun violence victims. The president called the vote “a disgrace for the American people”. He also added, “This is a shameful day in Washington.”

Currently, the United States has one of the highest gun mortality rates in the world as well as most guns per capita with a whopping 88.9 guns per 100 people. While we view ourselves as one of the safest nations on the planet, according to our gun mortality rates, we fall behind most developed first world nations. Other first world countries such as Japan and Great Britain have fewer than 50 homicide gun deaths a year, compared to our 10,000. While the president does not oppose the ownership of guns, he simply wants to take the far more dangerous semi-automatic weapons off the streets and ensure safety for the American people. The Republicans, along with the NRA argue that arming more people with guns, not disarming people, is the only way to counter all the “bad guys” currently with guns. While both are valid arguments, most of the public have sided with the President’s argument after witnessing the terrible tragedies that have occurred over the past few years.

The battle on gun control is not lost for the President yet, however. Congress is still currently looking over the broader gun package which includes far “tougher laws on gun trafficking and straw purchases, and steps to improve safety in schools.” (Cnn.com) Just watch, the re-birth of the gun debate has just begun.

Sources: Cnn.com, Washington Post.com, NYtimes.com, huffingtonpost.com