Gun violence is one of the most serious problems in the United States.
, more than 35,000 people are killed by guns, a death rate much higher than that in any.
other industrial nations. In 1997, approximately 70 percent of the murders in the United.
States were committed with guns. However, the United States also is the country that has.
the most gun control laws. Gun control laws generally focus on passing legislation to.
restrict legal ownership of certain firearms. Gun control laws may decrease criminal's.
access to guns, but in fact the same laws also have their negative effects. The controversy.
over gun control is always heated. Looking closely at those gun control laws and their.
enforcement, we can not only see the criminal problem in america, but also another.
important social problem in America which is racial discrimination. .
The racial problem of gun control has raised attention of some American.
scholars in the U.S. For example, a black man, General Lancy, who is the founder of a.
little organization known as the National Black Sportsman's Association, often called "the.
black gun lobby" said when asked his opinion of gun control: "Gun control is really race.
control. People who embrace gun control are really racists in nature. All gun laws have.
been enacted to control certain classes of people, mainly black people". Some white men.
have said almost the same thing. Investigative reporter Robert Sherrill concluded in his.
book The Saturday Night Special that the object of the Gun Control Act of 1968 was.
black control rather than gun control. Congress passed the act to "shut off weapons access.
to blacks, and since congress probably associated cheap guns with ghetto blacks and.
thought cheapness was uncommonly the characteristic of imported military surplus and the.
mail order traffic, they decided to cut off these sources while leaving over the counter.
purchases open to the rich.". .
Gun control in the United States has its history.