二、美国枪支管控举步维艰
II. Gun Control: An Uphill Battle in the United States文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/14210.html
文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/14210.html
19世纪末以来，美国各州和地方多次试图制定控枪法律，但都难逃“雷声大、雨点小”和“来回翻烧饼”的结局，枪支管控始终难见实效。文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/14210.html
文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/14210.html
Since the end of the 19th century, U.S. state and local governments have made various attempts to introduce legislation on gun control, but such efforts all ended up either long in words but short on action, or flip-flopped. No real progress was made on gun control.文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/14210.html
文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/14210.html
美国宪法第二修正案规定了个人持枪权。近年来，在枪支问题日益突出背景下，拥枪派和控枪派人士就该修正案释法问题展开激烈辩论。拥护枪支权利的组织主张个人权利不得随意修改，枪支管控非法。而主张枪支管控的组织则认为，修正案所确立的是集体权利，而非私人持有枪支的权利，政府有权对枪支进行管控。控枪立法讨论多次在争论中陷入僵局，而最高法院依据该修正案作出的裁决也往往不利于枪支管控。文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/14210.html
文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/14210.html
The second amendment to the U.S. Constitution provides for the right of individuals to keep and bear arms. In recent years, as gun-related issues have become increasingly prominent, pro-gun and pro-control advocates have engaged in heated debates on the interpretation of the second amendment. Organizations that support gun rights claim that individual rights should not be arbitrarily modified and gun control is illegal. Organizations that support gun control argue that the second amendment establishes a collective right, rather than an individual right to possess guns, and the government has the right to control guns. Such debates have resulted in stalled efforts on gun control legislation, and Supreme Court rulings based on the second amendment are often not in favor of gun control.文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/14210.html
文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/14210.html
美国各州间管控枪支的立法差距很大，而联邦层面的相关立法出台迟缓，前后不一，自相矛盾。1927年，国会通过法案禁止以邮寄方式向私人出售手枪，但却未禁止通过私人快递公司递送手枪，且个人可以自由跨州购枪。1968年国会通过《枪支管控法》，但该法未规定对所有枪支进行登记和发给执照，也没有禁止进口枪支部件。1969年，在美国全国步枪协会游说下，国会废止关于要求霰弹猎枪和来复枪弹药经销商登记购买人信息的规定。1986年，里根总统签署《火器拥有者保护法》，使没有执照的个人更方便地出售枪支，允许经销商在枪支展览会出售枪支，禁止建立任何全面武器登记的体系。
In the United States, there is significant disparity in gun control from state to state, and relevant legislation efforts at the federal level are often slow, inconsistent and contradictory. In 1927, an act passed by Congress banned mail shipment of firearms such as pistols and revolvers to individuals, but did not prohibit the delivery of such firearms through private delivery firms. Under this act, individuals are allowed to buy guns across state lines. In 1968, the Gun Control Act passed by Congress did not include registration and licensing requirements for all firearms and their carriers, nor did it ban the import of firearm components. In 1969, the lobbying power of the U.S. National Rifle Association (NRA) propelled Congress to waive requirement for registration of buyers’ information by sellers of shotgun and rifle cartridges. In 1986, the Firearms Owners’ Protection Act signed by President Ronald Reagan made it easier for unlicensed individuals to sell firearms. It also allowed firearms to be sold at gun shows, and banned the establishment of any comprehensive system of firearm registration.
2005年，国会通过《保护合法军火贸易法》，保护制造商不因其产品承担民事责任。拥枪组织还利用立法和联邦法院挑战枪支管控。2008年6月，美国最高法院在哥伦比亚特区诉海勒案中以5比4裁定，哥伦比亚特区不能禁止公民在家中持有手枪。大法官安东宁·斯卡利亚对此称，宪法保护个人持有和携带枪支的权利，哥伦比亚特区禁止在家中持有手枪违反了宪法第二修正案。最高法院这一裁定及其逻辑阐述，直接影响全美各地的枪支管控立法。2012年，桑迪胡克事件发生后，联邦参议员曼钦和图米起草的妥协法案无法获得推进控枪立法所需的60票，此后10年国会未能批准一项枪支背景调查法案。
In 2005, Congress passed the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, which protects firearm manufacturers from civil liability for crimes committed with their products. Pro-gun groups have also used legislation and federal courts to resist gun control efforts. In June 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in the case of District of Columbia v. Heller. With this ruling, the District of Columbia lifted the ban on handguns and allowed individuals to keep guns at home. Justice Antonin Scalia, who presided over the case, noted that the second amendment protects an individual’s right to keep and bear firearms, and that the District of Columbia’s ban on handgun possession in the home violated that right. The Supreme Court’s ruling and its opinion on this case have directly affected gun control legislation across the United States. In 2012, in the wake of a mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary school, Senators Joe Manchin and Patrick Toomey drafted a compromise bill to expand background checks on gun buyers. The bill fell short of the 60 votes required to move forward and was thus defeated. In the ensuing decade, all congressional efforts to pass bills to enhance background checks on gun buyers ended up in failure.
2021年3月，众议院通过要求对所有枪支销售进行背景调查的“2021年两党背景核查法案”。2022年5月，纽约州布法罗和得克萨斯州尤瓦尔迪两次大规模枪击事件引发数百场反枪支暴力示威，控枪呼声再起。在民主党人大幅弱化控枪措施后，参众两院才通过了新的控枪法案。然而，与此同时，最高法院作出裁决，推翻纽约州1911年制定的限制民众在公共场所隐蔽携枪的法律，直接削弱了纽约、加利福尼亚、夏威夷、马里兰、马萨诸塞、新泽西等州和地方政府监控枪支的能力。
In March 2021, the House passed the “Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2021”, which requires background checks on all gun sales. In May 2022, two mass shootings in Buffalo, New York and Uvalde, Texas sparked hundreds of anti-gun violence demonstrations, and calls for gun control re-surged. The Senate and the House adopted new gun control legislation, only after Democrats significantly weakened the control measures. At the same time, however, the Supreme Court issued a ruling striking down New York State’s 1911 law which restricts carrying a concealed firearm in public. This directly undermined the ability of state and local governments to monitor firearms in New York, California, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts and New Jersey, among others.
由于国会难以就枪支管控采取行动，美国政府只能通过总统行政令规范特定类型的枪支和枪支改装。2022年6月，国会通过名为《两党更安全社区法》的涉控枪法案。据皮尤民调机构调查，大多数民众对该法案降低美枪支暴力事件的作用并不乐观，78%认为该法案起不到什么作用，其中36%甚至认为该法案毫无作用。
Due to the difficulty of Congress to act on gun control, the U.S. administration could only regulate certain types of firearms and firearm modifications through presidential executive orders. In June 2022, Congress passed a gun-related bill called the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. According to a Pew poll, most people are not optimistic about the bill’s effect in reducing gun violence in the United States. Seventy-eight percent think it will do little, of which 36 percent think it will do nothing at all.
美国公众对于枪支管控的态度严重分裂。历年民意调查显示，妇女、城市居民、非美国本土出生者、政治上倾向自由主义者、不拥有枪支者更倾向于支持控枪，而男性、乡村居民、美国本土出生者、政治立场保守者、猎人和枪支拥有者则反对控枪。当前美国民众对控枪立场差距仍在扩大。
The American public is deeply divided on gun control. Public opinion polls in recent years have shown that women, urban residents, non-native borns, liberal-leaning people and non-gun owners are more likely to support gun control, while men, rural residents, native-born Americans, political conservatives, hunters and gun owners oppose it. The gap between Americans’ stance on gun control is still widening.
