School Tragedy Reignites Debate over Gun Control in the United States

Source: ZORNICK, G 2013, 'Walmart: America's No. 1 Gun Source', Nation, 296, 1/2, pp. 15-20, Australia/New Zealand Reference Centre, EBSCOhost, viewed 6 February 2013.

Imagine walking into a retail chain store such as K-mart and being able to purchase a semiautomatic assault weapon. In Australia, we cannot do this, but in the United States, the retail chain store Walmart, is now the biggest seller of firearms and ammunition in the United States.¹

In the wake of the tragic school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut in December 2012, the issue of gun control is once more under debate in the United States. The US has the highest ranking of guns per capita, with an estimated 310 million firearms in US civilian circulation.² The percentage of US households with a gun in January 2013 was 49%.³

The fallout from the proliferation of these weapons is apparent - there were over 32,163 gun-related deaths (includes murder, suicide and other) in the US in 2011.⁴ While there is increased public support for new weapons regulation, there is also staunch opposition to gun control, in particular, from the powerful National Rifle Association (NRA).⁵

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Rayyan

References
 1 ZORNICK, G 2013, 'Walmart: America's No. 1 Gun Source', Nation, 296, 1/2, pp. 15-20, Australia/New Zealand Reference Centre, EBSCOhost, viewed 6 February 2013.

2 SCHERED, M 2013, 'THE NEXT GUN FIGHT. (cover story)', Time, 181, 3, pp. 24-33, Australia/New Zealand Reference Centre, EBSCOhost, viewed 6 February 2013.

3 Ibid.

4 Ibid.

5 Ibid.