Hello, everyone! Welcome to America Under the Microscope advanced level. James, here.
Hi, everyone！
So, if you remember last episode we talked about guns in America. I have a question for you. Do you still think we stand on the corner of the street, shooting each other for fun?
Oh, I no longer think so. Thank you for your topic and all the information that you've provided. So you promised that we are going to talk about how to actually go through the process of buying a gun this time.
I did, didn't I?
Yes, you said that this is quite complicated. So I'm wondering how difficult it is.
Ok. The difficulty of buying a gun itself isn't what's complicated. What's complicated is the fact that it's not the same everywhere in the country.
Oh… Yes, of course because you have… from state to state， you have different rules.
Yeah, exactly！So in some states it's much more lenient and in other states it's much more strict. In general, more rural, agricultural states tend to be much more lenient on gun purchasing laws and more urban states, coastal states, like California, New York, tend to have more strict purchasing laws
Why is that? Is it just because that… people in the city tend to purchase like hand guns and they are more dangerous?
Partially it has to do with culture of the guns in the two areas. Because when people are in the cities when they think of guns, they think of crime. When you talk to a person in the rural areas, farmers and staff, they think of gun, they think of hunting and protecting their animals from foxes and other kinds of dangerous animals.
So the perception is very different.
Very different.
You said it's not very difficult to actually get a gun. So if you are like an US citizen, what do you need to show to actually purchase a gun?
We are gonna use my state of Washington as an example because this is what I'm most familiar with. So I'm a Washington resident; I'm an American citizen. So if I want to go and buy a rifle, I can go into the store, I can show them my ID, I can then browse what I want, give the money and walk away.
So it's just like buying a bottle of water?
They do take your ID, and they are gonna put it into a computer to do a quick check to make sure you don't have anything like any felonies, any serious crimes or other things that have put on your records saying that you can't own.
So if you are a US citizen, no criminal record, and of the legal age that we talked about, 18 for a rifle and 21 for handguns, and then you can just buy it?
Right! Now in some states there is a waiting period to buy. You'll give them your ID, you'll fill out a form, and usually you have to wait, usually around 3 to 5 days.
So I guess this waiting period is for them to check if you have any criminal records?
That's correct! Yeah.
Oh…And then…you said you go to a store to buy. What kind of store? Is it like a specialized store? Or just like…
Yeah, Wal-Mart.
You can buy guns in Wal-Mart?
Long guns, yes. Wal-Mart doesn't sell handguns but Wal-Mart does sell rifles and shot guns.
I can't look at Wal-Mart anything like…So there is a special section for rifles.
Yes, there's a special section in the store, for hunting. They specialize in hunting but you can also go to, what we called, the sporting goods stores which are places that sell kind of outdoor activity things, like they will have fishing equipment, tents, sleeping bags, and a lot will be about hunting and guns. We also have something, what we called gun shows which are basically markets or you have these individuals, selling different guns.
Is it like the same idea as the farmers' market?
Actually, it's almost exactly the same. It's just, instead of fruits and vegetables.
They sell guns.
Pick your Rifle of your choice.
Ok. This background check. So this is very different from state to state.
Yeah. This is where… it gets complicated. Because in some states it's fairly lenient; some states it's more strict. And Like my state, if you buy a rifle, there is no waiting period for the background check but if you buy handgun there is a 5-day waiting period. In other states it's very different. And what they check is different from state to state, too.
So it doesn't sound… In general, it doesn't sound very strict or very thorough.
It is. And that is something that upsets many Americans.
Exactly. So this goes into gun control.
Yes, it does.
This is always a very controversial topic. Last time we talked about it. This is direct mentioned in the Constitution. And it's very difficult to make change to change that, and You said it's a divisive issue in America.
That's right. It's really hard to change because the Constitution makes it so banning the guns nearly impossible. So what most politicians do that for gun controls is they try to pass measures that will change the waiting period or change the background checks or even restrict certain types of guns that are more dangerous, or more likely to be used in shootings.
So they can only tweak the details of the regulation.
But these politicians who file for these changes are far too senile by the opposite party.
Those will be the big gun groups. The gun lobbies.
Yes. Well … it's will be the other politicians. But the other politicians are backed by the gun lobbies.
Lobby. L-O-B-B-Y.这个是一个政治性的用语，叫说客。
So, lobbyist. Lobby is a group. Lobbyist are the people.
…are the people. Oh, yeah.
NRA? Is it?
Yeah, NRA——the National Rifle Association. This is the largest, most powerful gun lobby in America. They say they represent the gun owners but it's closer to the truth that they represent the gun makers. And so they had a lot of money and they may influence the policy makers of Washington D.C. to fight any kind of gun control laws.
I have a question though. Why do some Americans feel so strongly about the right to own a gun? Is it just because it's in the Constitution?
Well… Americans would say they use the Constitution as a reason but for most Americans they equate it to a freedom that they have. So they think… by…if you limit their access to guns you are taking away one of their freedoms.
I guess that's understandable. Politicians, you said they are not really going very strongly against guns. Is that because that's gonna tank their political career?
That's one of the biggest reasons. Oh, yes. It can be a political suicide.
As bad as that?
Yeah, because the opposing party can use your anti-gun census ammunition to win elections.
So better leave it as status quo essentially. Now let's come to a rather heavy topic which is the shootings. This is one of the things as someone who doesn't live in the United States. A lot of what you read about guns in the United States. It's these mass shooting… tragedies.
Yes. Sadly, they happened in America. They are multiple times a year occurrence. I am not entirely sure that they are actually more frequent or they just seem more frequent because of the media coverage. I don't know which one is which. But the fact that they happen is bad all together.
Those are the shoot, like the mass shootings. What about just in general, gun murders? Are they as prevalent as what TV shows would show?
In some areas of the country, they are fairly prevalent but gun murders, usually, most likely to occur in places already high in gang activity or drug crimes.
So it's already very high crime rate.
Usually. So in a lot of places like big cities when people get shot, murdered, doesn't always make the news or doesn't make big news. Because if it happened in an area that crimes are already high, then which is kind of an everyday occurrence. If someone's shot in like middle class neighborhood where the crime rate is low, then that would make news.
I see. So gun owners, do they actually carry guns with them?
Some do, some don't.
This is a massive topic. Obviously, it's also a very sensitive topic. I don't think we should go any further but there certainly a lot to think about. It's not just so black and white. Like before today, I thought it was more like a black and white. They are bad. Why don't we just ban it? But based on what we were talking about, it's really very…it's large grey area.
That's whole lot of grey area, like many things.
Ok. On that note let's wrap it up today. And we'll see you next time.
Thank you all for listening.

Key words:
Process of Buying a gun
● From state to state, there are different rules concerning gun purchase
● Rural states tend to have more lenient laws
● Urban and costal states tend to have more strict laws
● They have very different perceptions of guns
Washington State as an example
● Go to the store and show your ID
● The store will do a quick check to see if you have committed a felony
● Get your gun straight away (long guns) or wait for a few days (hand guns)
● Most background checks are not that strict or thorough.
Where to buy
● Walmart!
● Sporting goods store
(outdoor equipments)
● Gun shows
(markets for guns)
Gun control
● Hard to change the constitution
● Most politicians will advocate measures to control/limit, but NOT ban gun owner
● Some pro-gun ownership politicians are backed by powerful gun lobby
(like NRA=National Rifle Association)
● Most Americans equate gun ownership to freedom
● Advocating the banning of gun ownership will be political suicide, because your opponent will use your anti-gun sentiment against you in elections.
Gun violence tends to occur more in areas where there are high level of gang activities.

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