Thomas Iacobucci | The Crow’s Nest
By Carrie Pinkard
Metaphorical shots were fired as College Democrats and Turning Point USA gathered in the ballrooms for their third debate.
This time, the topic was gun control.
Should firearms be further regulated by the government, or are there are enough restrictions already?
The group’s opening statements answered this central question.
“I should be able to own any weapon I want after I get a background check. The government should not be able to tell me that I can’t,” Turning Point USA’s President Kacy Cartmell said.
“Keep your hands off my firearms,” she added.
Meanwhile, College Democrats President Trevor Martindale voiced his support for increased gun legislation.
“We have a gun death crisis in the United States,” Martindale said. “From gang violence, to mass shootings, to suicide, we must decrease the likelihood of these events occuring. We must pass sensible, comprehensive gun legislation.”
The debaters were asked by moderator Naya Payne if the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution should be modified.
“We must understand the context of the constitution and that it was written so long ago,” Martindale said. “Nobody would have imagined in 1776 that a gun could have a large magazine and large bullets that could shoot semi-automatically.”
Cartmell disagreed, saying that the Constitution has lasted this long for a reason.
“I think the framers did expect America to evolve,” she said. “I think the reason the Constitution has lasted so long is that the framers knew what they were doing. I don’t think it needs to be changed whatsoever.”
Martindale pointed out that the weapons that existed when the Constitution was written were far less advanced than they are today.
“In 1776 we had musket rifles. I think you can not correlate muskets with AR-15s or any gun of the sort,” he said.
The groups were asked what sort of restrictions, if any, they would like to see on gun ownership.
“The only legislation I support is more comprehensive background checks,” Cartmell said. “ If you’re a violent person, there’s no reason you should have a hand on a gun.”
College Democrat Secretary Haley Ostwalt set her focus on limiting a gun’s physical capacity for harm.
“We should be regulating external magazines,” Ostwalt said. “We should be forcing manufacturers to create internal magazines that make is less easy for people to reload and shoot 300 rounds at once.
“That would limit mass shootings and would still create a safe place for recreational hunting and shooting.”
But Turning Point USA’s Lexi Bishop seemed to think that guns aren’t the problem, citing the number of murders that occur at the hands of other weapons.
“In 2018, 297 people were killed by rifles. 462 were killed by feet and fist. 1,515 were killed by knives,” Bishop said.
“So if you’re going to regulate external magazines on rifles specifically, you’re going to have to regulate feet and fist, and knives.”
“Do you think the Las Vegas shooter could have killed 58 people using a knife?” College Democrat debater Caitlyn Roland asked rhetorically.
Later in the debate, Bishop said the gun is not at fault, but people who misuse them are.
“It’s like saying spoons make you fat. It’s like blaming a gun for people’s actions. You can’t blame a spoon for making you fat.”
The groups found middle ground over their shared opinion that teachers should not all be armed with guns. However, they disagreed over whether guns should be allowed on college campuses.
“We need to think about the college campus stereotype of partying and drinking and fighting,” Roland said. “If there were firearms allowed on campus, this would escalate a lot of these situations and lead to a lot more deaths.”
“I definitely think there should be campus carry,” Cartmell argued. “There aren’t just 18-year- olds fresh out of high school on this campus. There are people that are 30 years old who are fresh out of Iraq or fresh out of the Army who have comprehensive background checks.”
The debate stretched on for over two hours, neither side seeming to run out of ammunition.
The audience was once again allowed to ask the debaters their own questions, which they did eagerly. Some had been taking notes during the debate and had three or more questions to ask.
In her closing statement, Cartmell said the groups would try to hold a debate next month, or, if not, she said, definitely next semester.
