[CLOSED] Regulation of the Acquisition of Firearms

[Copperward]

Regulation of the Acquisition of Firearms
A resolution to tighten or relax gun control laws.
Category: Gun Control | Decision: Tighten | Proposed by: Copperward

Article I, Preamble:

The World Assembly has respected the importance of member nations’ national sovereignty, especially on the issue of gun control and maintains that this issue should almost entirely be left up to their individual jurisdiction. However, cognizant of the appalling amount of preventable injuries and deaths at the hands unstable people using firearms, the World Assembly recognizes the necessity of universal legislation preventing dangerous individuals from acquiring firearms through legal and illegal means. The World Assembly therefore enacts this resolution in order to prevent known dangerous individuals from purchasing, handling, and selling guns in order to prevent the number of gun-related injuries and deaths, and to lessen the accessibility of firearms through illegal means such as the international black market.

Article II, Definitions:

1) A “firearm” will, for the purposes of this resolution, be defined as a barreled, ranged weapon that launches projectiles discharged by propellant combustion.

2) A “dangerous individual” will, for the purposes of this resolution, be defined as a person who has been found guilty of committing a violent, felonous act including assault and domestic abuse, or been psychiatrically evaluated by a mental health professional and determined to be a hazard to the public.

Article III, Mandates:

1) Nations are encouraged to strengthen background checks and install grace periods between firearm transactions to allow for a more thorough background check.

2) Nations are strongly recommended to create a requirement for its citizens to have a psychological evaluation before purchasing a gun in order to determine if the person in question is afflicted with an issue that makes them a hazard to the public.

3) All gun sellers are required to run background checks before selling firearms to individuals. They must also maintain records of their inventory and the firearms they sell. It is mandatory that gun dealers report any firearm thefts to their local authorities.

4) Nations are prohibited from allowing people deemed "dangerous individuals" to purchase, sell, or handle a firearm.

5) Nations are urged to take measures to reduce transactions of firearms through unlawful means.

6) Individuals afflicted with mental illnesses including but not limited to depression, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and substance abuse disorders are not considered an inherent danger to the public and are therefore not prohibited from acquiring, handling or selling a firearm for their mental affliction under this resolution.

_{**The format of the current draft was inspired by GAR#132's format.}

Gun Control
A resolution to tighten or relax gun control laws.
Category: Gun Control | Decision: Tighten | Proposed by: Copperward

Article I, Preamble:

The World Assembly has maintained and respected the importance of member nations’ national sovereignty, especially on the issue of gun control. However, cognizant of the appalling amount of preventable injuries and deaths at the hands unstable people using firearms, the World Assembly recognizes the necessity of universal legislation preventing dangerous individuals from acquiring firearms through legal means. The World Assembly supports the notion that member nations should ultimately decide on whether or not firearms should be accessible to civilians but believes that individuals that pose a legitimate threat to the public should not be given any right to own firearms regardless.

Article II, Definitions:

1) A “firearm,” for the purposes of this resolution, be defined as a barreled, ranged weapon that launches projectiles discharged by propellant combustion.

2) A “dangerous individual” will, for the purposes of this resolution, be defined as a person who has committed a felonous act including assault and domestic abuse, or been psychiatrically evaluated and determined to be a hazard to the public.

Article III, Mandates

1) Nations are encouraged to strengthen background checks and install grace periods between firearm transactions to allow for a more thorough background check.

2) Nations are strongly recommended to create a requirement for its citizens to have a psychological evaluation before purchasing a gun in order to determine if the person in question is afflicted with an issue that makes them a hazard to the public.

3) Nations are prohibited from allowing people deemed "dangerous individuals" to purchase, sell, or handle a firearm.

4) Nations are urged to take measures to reduce transactions of firearms through unlawful means.

5) Individuals afflicted with mental illnesses including but not limited to depression, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and substance abuse disorders are not inherently considered an inherent danger to others unless they have a history of criminal behavior.

_{**The format of the current draft was inspired by GAR#132's format.}

Possession of Firearms by Dangerous Individuals
Category: Global Disarmament
Strength: Significant

The World Assembly:

Respecting member nations' existing legislation and views on gun control;

However recognizing the necessity to regulate guns to reduce the risk of injury and death as a result of allowing risky individuals prone to violence to possess firearms;

Desiring to protect the general public from preventable firearm-related incidents at the hands of dangerous individuals through WA legislation;

Hereby,

1. Defines, for the purposes of this resolution, 'mental illness' as a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning
   
   
2. Encourages nations to invest more resources into mental health institutions;
   
   
3. Urges nations to address illegal firearm sales;
   
   
4. Prohibits gun dealers from selling firearms to domestic abusers, felons, and individuals with a mental illness that causes them to be a danger to others;
   
   
5. Clarifies that individuals afflicted with mental illnesses including but not limited to depression, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and substance abuse disorders are not considered an inherent danger to others;

[Separatist Peoples]

"This belongs in Gun Control, not Global Disarmament, for one. Two, this isn't an international issue. If the C.D.S.P. permits felons to own weapons, its hardly any other nation's concern."

[Araraukar]

1. Defines, for the purposes of this resolution, 'mental illness' as a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning

OOC: Which still includes people with normal anxiety (rather than anxiety disorder), many phobias and just plain old normal fears, panic attacks, epilepsy, ADHD, any disability, possibly some religions (many religious restrictions certainly "impair personal functioning") and traditions, thanks to including the "behavioral pattern", so I'd say that this is a completely unacceptable definition, even if the thought of denying guns to people with strict religious requirements greatly amuses me.

Also, please don't paint the whole world with the stupid, reckless and dangerous gun policies of USA. In addition to which, mass shootings are rarely carried out by the truly "insane" people, since they would not be capable of the planning such a thing requires.

[Copperward]

1. Defines, for the purposes of this resolution, 'mental illness' as a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning

OOC: Which includes people with depression, anxiety (heck, it includes people with normal anxiety, not just anxiety disorder), OCD, bipolar, ADHD, possibly some religions (many religious restrictions certainly "impair personal functioning") and traditions, thanks to including the "behavioral pattern", so I'd say that this is a completely unacceptable definition, even if the thought of denying guns to people with strict religious requirements greatly amuses me.

Also, please don't paint the whole world with the stupid, reckless and dangerous gun policies of USA. In addition to which, mass shootings are rarely carried out by the truly "insane" people, since they would not be capable of the planning such a thing requires.

You make great points. I appreciate your commentary as well as Separatist Peoples. While my definition of "mental illness" encompasses disorders and afflictions such as the ones you mentioned, I tried to clarify that only those with mental illnesses that may push them to harm others should be prohibited from buying guns.

While I want push forward with this proposal as this nation's first action in the WA, I understand that beginning this nation's WA career with a full-fledged proposal and starting out with a topic such as this is over-ambitious.

While I would like to hear from other nations on whether or not they consider this to be an issue that should be addressed by the WA, I completely understand your reasoning for why this should be an issue that each individual nation should decide. If others agree that this should be an issue for individual nations and that this issue cannot be amended with some configurations to change it into a proper WA resolution, I will scrap this idea immediately.

[The First German Order]

"This doesn't seem necessary... no support."

[Masurbia]

substance abuse disorders are not considered an inherent danger to others;

I wouldn't be completely opposed to a stricter gun regulations for the mentally ill, but you would allow alcoholics, people with drug addictions to possess a gun? Under your definition, an alcoholic would classify as a mentally ill person. Same can be said for drug addicts. Both groups have a behavioral pattern of addiction that allows them to have an impairment of personal functioning and could be a danger to others.

[Copperward]

substance abuse disorders are not considered an inherent danger to others;

I wouldn't be completely opposed to a stricter gun regulations for the mentally ill, but you would allow alcoholics, people with drug addictions to possess a gun? Under your definition, an alcoholic would classify as a mentally ill person. Same can be said for drug addicts. Both groups have a behavioral pattern of addiction that allows them to have an impairment of personal functioning and could be a danger to others.

Alcoholics and the drug-addicted do not pose an inherent danger to the public. Substance abuse does not directly connect to violent behavior, and while I understand the point you are making, I believe that there is little chance that these individuals' addictions would cause anything close to a significant amount of incidents with firearms, and therefore believe that there is little reason to mandate nations to prohibit these people from purchasing arms.

[Masurbia]

I wouldn't be completely opposed to a stricter gun regulations for the mentally ill, but you would allow alcoholics, people with drug addictions to possess a gun? Under your definition, an alcoholic would classify as a mentally ill person. Same can be said for drug addicts. Both groups have a behavioral pattern of addiction that allows them to have an impairment of personal functioning and could be a danger to others.

Alcoholics and the drug-addicted do not pose an inherent danger to the public. Substance abuse does not directly connect to violent behavior, and while I understand the point you are making, I believe that there is little chance that these individuals' addictions would cause anything close to a significant amount of incidents with firearms, and therefore believe that there is little reason to mandate nations to prohibit these people from purchasing arms.

This clause can be interpreted a couple of different ways, and according to a study by the CDC in 2016, alcohol was a factor in over 88,000 deaths, while gun-related deaths hover around 30,000. Now you could be going down the path where alcoholism and drug abuse leads to felonies and domestic abuse, which then makes it illegal to obtain a fireman in this proposal.

[The Greater Siriusian Domain]

After the Florida school shooting, I strongly believe there should be stronger legislation barring potentially dangerous individuals from acquiring firearms. This proposal is heavily inspired by this devastating massacre.

OOC: Nationstates is not the real world. Just because an issue exists IRL doesn't mean exists in NS.

The purpose of this proposal is to prevent individuals with a dangerous background or mental illness that may cause them to act violently to get guns. I do not believe that people with mental illness are inherently prone to be dangerous, and intent is to only target those with mental illnesses that cause them to be a danger to others. This means people with mental illnesses such as OCD, depression, or anxiety will not be prohibited from getting a firearm solely for those afflictions.

Teran Saber: "Well, that's an improvement over previous attempts. Though let's just see if the proposal actually works as intended."

I am aware that there is another proposal on the topic of mental illness and gun control, I believe that the author does not intend to address this issue by preventing domestic abusers and felons from possessing guns, nor desires to restrict mentally ill people specifically with disorders that make them a danger to the public from acquiring guns, instead believing that all mentally ill individuals that have a generally "altered or skewed view of reality" should not possess guns (under the author's definition, people with depression or anxiety can be prohibited from buying a firearm).

Teran Saber: "No argument."

Possession of Firearms by Dangerous Individuals
Category: Global Disarmament
Strength: Significant

The World Assembly:

Teran Saber: "Hm... I get the feeling this might be more of a Moral Decency proposal since it affects individuals rather than nations, but don't quote me on that."

Respecting member nations' existing legislation and views on gun control;

Teran Saber: "Hm... good job keeping that in mind at least."

However recognizing the necessity to regulate guns to reduce the risk of injury and death as a result of allowing risky individuals prone to violence to possess firearms;

Teran Saber: "I do want to ask why it's necessary to do this at the WA level rather than just the national level."

Desiring to protect the general public from preventable firearm-related incidents at the hands of dangerous individuals through WA legislation;

Teran Saber: "No argument that hasn't already been stated."

Hereby,

Defines, for the purposes of this resolution, 'mental illness' as a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning

Teran Saber: "Insert Price Is Right loser horns here. If you're trying to only target dangerous mental illnesses, you're not doing a good job of it here. As written, this results in the very problem you were trying to avoid."

Encourages nations to invest more resources into mental health institutions;

Teran Saber: "No argument against an 'Encourages' clause."

Urges nations to address illegal firearm sales;

Teran Saber: "Nor against an 'Urges' clause."

Prohibits gun dealers from selling firearms to domestic abusers, felons, and individuals with a mental illness that causes them to be a danger to others;

Teran Saber: "Good recovery, but 'causes them to be a danger to others' should be mentioned in the definitions as a 'dangerous mental disorder' rather than mentioning it here."

Clarifies that individuals afflicted with mental illnesses including but not limited to depression, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and substance abuse disorders are not considered an inherent danger to others;

Teran Saber: "Good job overall. With the adjustments I mentioned, I'd be willing to back this, baring any especially solid argument against."

"A decent proposal like this one is honestly a nice break from the garbage that keeps getting poured into the festering snakepit."

[Alpha Cassiopeiae]

"Ambassador, weapons laws are the matter of individual states, not international law, not to mention the immense political... difficulty you would face in trying to push such an action. International arms transportation and sale, for example, could be a matter of review for the World Assembly, but we already have a solid resolution on that."

[Copperward]

Alcoholics and the drug-addicted do not pose an inherent danger to the public. Substance abuse does not directly connect to violent behavior, and while I understand the point you are making, I believe that there is little chance that these individuals' addictions would cause anything close to a significant amount of incidents with firearms, and therefore believe that there is little reason to mandate nations to prohibit these people from purchasing arms.

This clause can be interpreted a couple of different ways, and according to a study by the CDC in 2016, alcohol was a factor in over 88,000 deaths, while gun-related deaths hover around 30,000. Now you could be going down the path where alcoholism and drug abuse leads to felonies and domestic abuse, which then makes it illegal to obtain a fireman in this proposal.

Like I said before, I do not believe substance abuse and addiction translates to violence. However, I get your point and unquestionably want to address that without alienating all substance abusers, especially those that pose no threat against others. I initially hoped when writing my first draft, by prohibiting felons and domestic abusers from buying guns, it would address this problem. However, if you feel that this is insufficient, I will try to correct it.

[Copperward]

I greatly appreciate your analysis of the first draft, The Greater Siriusian Domain. Currently, I am rethinking the category of the draft, but I do plan to maintain the strength of the proposal. And,while you didn't bring this up, I plan to change the name of the proposal. Also, I will definitely take you advice and revise clause one, the definition of "mental illness" and instead replace it with a definition of a "dangerous mental illness." I agree with your points; the definition, in the context it is currently in, is not appropriate and would be better if replaced with the alternative of a "dangerous mental illness."

[Stoskavanya]

Alcoholics and the drug-addicted do not pose an inherent danger to the public. Substance abuse does not directly connect to violent behavior, and while I understand the point you are making, I believe that there is little chance that these individuals' addictions would cause anything close to a significant amount of incidents with firearms, and therefore believe that there is little reason to mandate nations to prohibit these people from purchasing arms.

Any cursory google search will reveal plenty of studies that show that alcohol and substance abuse can correlate with increased violence. This relationship is certainly complex; substance abuse may not lead to violent deaths due to delirious rampages, but social processes such as drug distribution systems (systemic violence) and violence used to obtain drugs or money for drugs (economic compulsive violence); it is certainly reasonable to believe that the two pose a danger to the public.

The proposal has a problem in that its too broad; what type of gun deaths are you trying to prevent? Mass murders? Street crime? How many gun deaths are caused by just the mental disorder alone, and not any other factors?

And third, we run into the obvious practical difficulties of enforcing such a resolution. What about doctor-patient confidentially? How are we going to determine if a person has a prohibited mental illness if they never seen a psychiatrist? Who determines when a mental illnesses reaches that benchmark of danger?

[Araraukar]

the definition of "mental illness" and instead replace it with a definition of a "dangerous mental illness."

OOC: No, don't. The illness itself, whatever it is, is not dangerous. Nor are all people with a certain illness dangerous. Some people can have anger management issues and be dangerous without any mental illnesses to blame. Mass murderers are rarely insane, even if they might try for that defence or if media labeled them as such. They usually have very personal reasons or political/ideological reasons, neither of which would be a "dangerous mental illness". Like I explained earlier, people whose grip on reality is so bad that it alone could make them dangerous to others, are incapable of making intricate plans to murder a lot of people.

Also, on drug use and such, certain drugs can cause psychotic episodes in people who otherwise are not mentally ill. And if memory serves something like 30% of Finns at least carry a gene that makes them aggressive when they get drunk fast (hard liquours, basically). So alcohol can definitely make people dangerous to others.

[Christian Democrats]

How is gun crime an international issue?

[Kenmoria]

"I would prefer clause 5 to end with a full stop as it is the last line of the proposal."

[Masurbia]

I get that you're introducing this proposal in wake of the Parkland Florida shooting, but the blame shouldn't be solely on the shoulders of mental illness. The police had been alerted multiple times of this man's behavior. The FBI was given a tip about when the man threatened to shoot up a school. The man wasn't allowed to be on campus with a backpack. The on-site school security guard didn't even go into the school during the shooting. Authorities had been notified of multiple incidents and did nothing. This tragedy was preventable if the police did their job. If anything, there should be a proposal on better guidelines for police on how to stop something like this from happening again.

[Kenmoria]

I get that you're introducing this proposal in wake of the Parkland Florida shooting, but the blame shouldn't be solely on the shoulders of mental illness. The police had been alerted multiple times of this man's behavior. The FBI was given a tip about when the man threatened to shoot up a school. The man wasn't allowed to be on campus with a backpack. The on-site school security guard didn't even go into the school during the shooting. Authorities had been notified of multiple incidents and did nothing. This tragedy was preventable if the police did their job. If anything, there should be a proposal on better guidelines for police on how to stop something like this from happening again.

That may be so, but it doesn't stop a proposal of this nature from being a good idea.

[North Prarie]

*North Prariean WA Secretary Elli Erdbron taps the mic at the North Prarie seat*
The nation of North Prarie and I support this legislation. We also motion to add a section raising the age to buy firearms to 22.

[Kenmoria]

*North Prariean WA Secretary Elli Erdbron taps the mic at the North Prarie seat*
The nation of North Prarie and I support this legislation. We also motion to add a section raising the age to buy firearms to 22.

"You do realise some species in the WA would be babies at 22, and some would have died of old age? Assuming you mean humanity, that is still a high age limit, 18 is reasonable."

[North Prarie]

*North Prariean WA Secretary Elli Erdbron taps the mic at the North Prarie seat*
The nation of North Prarie and I support this legislation. We also motion to add a section raising the age to buy firearms to 22.

"You do realise some species in the WA would be babies at 22, and some would have died of old age? Assuming you mean humanity, that is still a high age limit, 18 is reasonable."

Yes, I mean humanity.
Though it may be different in most WA nations, why in some nations can you buy a firearm before you can buy a beer? 18 is too low, and as seen in a lot of mass shootings, many of the perpetrators are between the ages of 18 and 22. Raising it to 22 will help.

[Naqil]

“Or you could just lower the drinking age in your nation and leave the rest of the WA alone,” suggested Ixhua.

[Ochea]

Clarifies that individuals afflicted with mental illnesses including but not limited to depression, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and substance abuse disorders are not considered an inherent danger to others;

How is substance abuse not a danger to others? You would let people who are intoxiated and obviously not able to think clearly have lethal weapons?

[North Prarie]

“Or you could just lower the drinking age in your nation and leave the rest of the WA alone,” suggested Ixhua.

"The drinking age in NP is already 18.
Isn't the purpose of the WA to enforce these laws in all member nations for the better? I didn't know it was to "Leave the rest of the WA alone." Raising the age to buy firearms to 22 will help. I don't know why all these people are so sensitive about their guns........"
Elli Erdbron picks up the phone to talk to the Cabinet

[Bears Armed]

“Or you could just lower the drinking age in your nation and leave the rest of the WA alone,” suggested Ixhua.

"The drinking age in NP is already 18.
Isn't the purpose of the WA to enforce these laws in all member nations for the better? I didn't know it was to "Leave the rest of the WA alone." Raising the age to buy firearms to 22 will help. I don't know why all these people are so sensitive about their guns........"
Elli Erdbron picks up the phone to talk to the Cabinet

OOC: An existing resolution says explicitly that setting age limits for anything is a national matter, not something that the WA can do, so specifying an age in the proposal -- whether that age was 22 or something else -- would make the proposal illegal for Contradiction.