The very tumultuous and vibrant discourse that is Gun Control in the United States is something that has been contributing to the downfall of our country’s democracy for quite some time. This is a topic that we have Americans have been debating amongst ourselves and within our government for as long as I can remember. Guns are something that we just cannot seem to ever agree on, and I do not see us coming to any sort of agreement in the meantime. It is always one way or the highway with little to no comprimize between the opposing groups and their arguments. This is why it has been such a detriment to the democracy in the United States. Between the use of Weaponized Communication by politcal figures and Stealth Authoritarianism, the democratic processes of the US are slowly eroding before our eyes.

 Weaponized Communication is one of the most common means for people to force ideas upon others for gun control and sway the people one way or another. For example, when one politically affiliated group makes a move for or against gun control, there is always use of media weaponization or polarization in order to move people to agree with them one way or another. This then results in the opposing group doing the same thing, sometimes with calls to action, and in dire cases, violence. This causes turmoil and much disagreement between people who should be the ones who can come to agreements. Which then leads to our democracy slowly eroding and becoming something that it was never intended to be, a free for all with little to no guidelines on what is right or wrong. Stealth Authoritarianism is something that goes easily unnoticed in todays politcal landscape and would go completely unnoticed if people did not touch on it from time to time. This occurs when someone in power, say a politcal canidate or group, gets people to act for them under the threat of violence. In this case it can almost be said that the “threat of violence” is the threat of having their rights taken away. When we threaten people with the thought of not being able to do something that is a Consitutional Right they then become almost hysterical and loose sense of what is right, leading them to just act on whatever those in power tell them to do.

 Some might say that this is all an overreaction and the idea that Gun Control is eroding our government is absurd, but this is just an absurd claim. Saying that Gun Control and the arguments about it have no effect on our government is part of the problem. By trying to ignore the problem and look it over, we then inflate the argument and let it work freely with no resistance. When we do not attack or make sense of something we then give it free will to work however it would like to in our society. In the case of Gun Control this would then allow people to continue using things like Weaponized Communication and Stealth Authoritarianism to further their ideals and push for more personal gain. Both of these things can be equally as detrimental and would have irreparable consequences for our country and we need to be sure that we are going to rid this as a possibility entirely. If this were to happen it would be devastating to our democracy and lower its standards to that of a tyranny. 

We have seen before in our country the toll something like this can take on it. For example, the aftermath of both the 2016 and 2021 elections sent shockwaves through the country and made our democracy look like a joke. This was due to similar reasons as mentioned in when speaking on Gun Control. People were left to their own devices and were given extremely limited and misleading information. This then led them to make decisions that were not in the right mind space and made the clean up nearly impossible. Another example of the consequences of Gun Violence (lack lack of control) is show in an article by the New York Times titled “ Here’s What Doesn’t Happen After A Mass Shooting”. This article lays out the foundation of what happens after a shooting occurs and how things essentially fall through the cracks after enough time. It speaks specifically about the Sandy Hook Shooting and how after that event, many gun laws were proposed and spoken of, but not much was actually done about it all (https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/01/opinion/robert-card-mike-johnson-maine-shooting.html). This is why we need to take action in this country and put a stop to the senseless violence that we are witnessing. The longer we do not act on the Gun Control in this country, the longer we allow our democracy to erode before our very eyes. The solution is making a concrete change in our society, in our communities, and in our government, for the good of all American citizens.