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Université d’Abomeyd’Abomey-Calavi Faculté des Lettres, Langues, Arts et Communication LASODYLALASODYLA-REYO / UAC – 2018

ReSciLaC Revue des Sciences du Langage et de la Communication

Dépôt légal N°8184 du 15/10/2015 Bibliothèque Nationale, 4ème trimestre Directeur de publication – ReSciLaC N°8 – 2nd semestre, Prof. ISSN: Akanni 1840-8001 M. IGUE (Université d’Abomey-Calavi, Bénin) décembre 2018

Directeur de publication Prof. Akanni Mamoud IGUE (Université d’Abomey-Calavi, Bénin) Rédacteur en Chef Prof. Aimé Dafon SEGLA (Université d’Abomey-Calavi, Bénin) Comité de rédaction

Dr Moufoutaou ADJERAN (Université d’Abomey-Calavi, Bénin) Dr Guillaume CHOGOLOU (Université d’Abomey-Calavi, Bénin)

Comité scientifique et de lecture

Prof. Aimé Dafon SEGLA (CNRS, Université d’Abomey-Calavi, Bénin) Prof. Akanni M. IGUE (Université d’Abomey-Calavi, Bénin) Prof. Blaise DJIHOUESSI (Université d’Abomey-Calavi, Bénin) Prof. Céline PEIGNE (INALCO, Paris) Prof. Christophe H. B. CAPO (Université d’Abomey-Calavi, Bénin) Prof. Flavien GBETO (Université d’Abomey-Calavi, Bénin) Prof. Florentine AGBOTON (Université d’Abomey-Calavi, Bénin) Prof. Gratien Gualbert ATINDOGBE (Buea, Cameroun) Prof. Jean Euloge GBAGUIDI (Université d’Abomey-Calavi, Bénin) Prof. Julien K. GBAGUIDI (Université d’Abomey-Calavi, Bénin) Prof. Kofi SAMBIENI (Université d’Abomey-Calavi, Bénin) Prof. Laré KANTCHOA (Université de Kara, Togo) Prof. Maxime da CRUZ (Université d’Abomey-Calavi, Bénin) Prof. Tchaa PALI (Université de Kara, Togo) Prof. Romuald TCHIBOZO (Université d’Abomey-Calavi, Bénin) Dr Guillaume CHOGOLOU (Université d’Abomey-Calavi, Bénin) Dr Michael AKINPELU (Université de Regina, Canada) Dr Etienne K. Iwikotan (Université d’Abomey-Calavi, Bénin)

Dr Dame NDAO (Université Cheikh Anta Diop, Sénégal) Adresse

Laboratoire de Sociolinguistique, Dynamique des Langues et Recherche en Yoruba (LASODYLAREYO) Université d’Abomey-Calavi. [email protected] Site : https://lasodyla.uac.bj

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Consignes aux auteurs Modalités de soumission Les articles doivent être envoyés au directeur de publication à l’adresse suivante : [email protected] Chaque proposition est évaluée par deux instructeurs anonymes dans un délai d'un mois (les propositions sont anonymées pour la relecture). Un article proposé pourra être refusé, accepté sous réserve de modifications, accepté tel quel. Les articles peuvent être rédigés en français ou en anglais, ou en version bilingue. Ils doivent comporter un résumé de 20 lignes maximum en français et en anglais, ainsi que 5 mots-clefs en français et en anglais. Le nombre de pages ou de caractères d'un article n'est pas limité. En revanche, un minimum de 8 pages est requis. Présentation des contributions Mise en page: page Format A4 ; Marges = 2,5 cm (haut, bas, droite, gauche) ; Reliure = 0 cm ; Style normal (pour le corps de texte) : Police Centaur14 points, sans couleurs, sans attributs (gras et italiques sont acceptés pour des mises en relief) ; paragraphe justifié, pas de retrait, pas d'espacement, interligne simple. Titre de l'article : Police Centaur14 points, sans couleurs, majuscules, gras ; paragraphe centré, pas de retrait, espacement après = 18 points, pas de retrait de première ligne, interligne simple. Titre 1 : Police Centaur14 points, sans couleurs, gras ; paragraphe gauche, espacement avant = 18 points, espacement après = 12 points, pas de retrait, pas de retrait de première ligne, interligne simple. Titre 2 : Police Centaur12 points, sans couleurs, gras ; paragraphe gauche, espacement avant = 12 points, espacement après = 6 points, pas de retrait, pas de retrait de première ligne, interligne simple. Titre 3 : Police Centaur12 points, sans couleurs, italiques ; paragraphe gauche, espacement avant = 12 points, espacement après = 3 points, pas de retrait, interligne simple. Notes : notes de bas de page, numérotation continue, 1…2…3… ; Police Centaur10 points, sans couleurs, sans attributs (gras et italiques sont acceptés pour des mises en relief) ; paragraphe justifié, pas de retrait, pas d'espacement, pas de retrait de première ligne, interligne simple. Références bibliographiques : Police Centaur14 points, gras ; paragraphe justifié, pas d'espacement, interligne simple. Retrait d’une tabulation à partir du début de la deuxième ligne de chaque référence. Exemples : Blakemore, D. 1992. Understanding Utterances. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.

Braconnier, C. 1993. Quelques aspects du passif mandingue dans saversion d'Odiène. Linguistique Africaine 10: 29-64. Casali, R. 2008. ATR harmony in African languages. Language and Linguistics Compass 2/3: 496–549. De Korne, H. 2007. The pedagogical potential of multimedia dictionaries. Lessons from a community dictionary project. The 14th annual stabilizing indigenous language symposium in Michigan on 1-3 June 2007. Accessed on 1 February 2012. Consultable à http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/~jar/ILR/ILR-11.pdf. Présentation ReSciLaC (Revue des Sciences du Langage et de la Communication) est une revue du Laboratoire de Sociolinguistique, Dynamique des Langues et Recherche en Yoruba (LASODYLA-REYO) de l’Université d’Abomey-Calavi (UAC). ReSciLaC est une revue pluridisciplinaire qui accueille des contributions abordant un grand nombre de champs d’études des sciences humaines et sociales. ReSciLaC permet de faire la diffusion de travaux de jeunes chercheurs ou de chercheurs confirmés en sociolinguistique, en linguistique, en didactique des langues, en

communication, en littérature, en philosophie du langage, en sciences de l’éducation, en sociologie, en histoire, en histoire de l’art, etc.

L'objectif de ReSciLaC est d'encourager des discussions scientifiques et théoriques les plus larges possibles portant aussi bien sur les sciences humaines que sur les sciences sociales. Ethique Pour lutter contre le plagiat, nous utilisons l’application en ligne Plagiarisma Plagiarisma pour vérifier le contenu des articles publiés.

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Sommaire LANGUES, LETTRES 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16.

Écriteaux des rues au Bénin : supports de mémoire collective et administrative (Moufoutaou Adjeran)….…….…………..…………….. Plurilinguisme et dynamique des langues dans le paysage linguistique de l’U.C.A.D. de Dakar : étude du réseau de communication enseignantsétudiants (Ngari Diouf)………………………………………………. Faire dire sans dire soi-même : la parole déléguée en question (Fallou Mbow)………………………………………….……………………. Expression du démonstratif entre référenciation et indexicalité chez Boris Boubacar Diop (Yao Kouamé)………………………………………… Expressivité en rhétorique et en poétique dualiste (Kobenan N’Guettia Martin Kouadio)………………………………………………………. Expression de l’angoisse dans L’ÉCART de V. Y. Mudimbe (Anicette Ghislaine Quenum)…………...………………….…………………...… Hybrides womaniste a travers la nouvelle romance d’Henri Lopes et Le prix de la révolte de Régina (Temidayo Onojobi)…………………...….. Mythes et fantastiques dans l’univers romanesque d’Emile Zola : Vérité et Thérèse Raquin (Folorunso Adebayo)………………………………...… Entre tradition et modernité : regard sur l’image de la femme dans la société africaine post-indépendance (Leo Iyanda Balogun)………………………. Analyse de quelques logiques qui sous-tendent les pratiques de corruption sur des axes routiers du Bénin et du Nigéria (Chambi Julien Atchadé & O. Z. Cather Nansounon) ………………………………………………. A Study Of Semantic Roles in two Excerpts From Amma Darko’s Faceless (Daniel T. Yokossi)…………………………………………………… A Critical Discourse Analysis Of John Dramani Mahama’s Political Addresses (Yémalo C. Amoussou & Edouard L. K. Koba)............................... Oral Proficiency Assessment Tasks in National Examinations in West Africa: Beninese and Senegalese Teachers’ Perspectives (Juvenale Patinvoh Agbayahoun, Flavien Dossou Lanmantchion, Diome Faye)……………… Safeguarding Americans from Gun Violence : President Obama’s Unfulfilled Dream (Ferdinand Kpohoué).............................................................. The Vicious Cycle of Gun Violence in America: How to Bend the Curb? (Babacar Dieng)............................................................................................................ Le substrat culturel du terroir comme marqueur d’authenticité dans la chanson de Zao (Dieudonné Moukouamou Mouendo)…………………..

11 21 36 54 69 87 99 109 117

125 140 157 173 183 194 205

PHILOSOPHIE, SOCIOLOGIESOCIOLOGIE-ANTHROPOLOGIE 17. 18. 19. 20. 21.

Démocratie et éducation à l’éthique en Afrique francophone : pour une approche critique du sens et des valeurs(Coovi Clément Bah et Gervais Kissezounon)………………………………………………..…………. Phénomènes paranormaux et politiques de développement en Afrique(Paul Christian Kiti & Désiré Medegnon)…………………………………….. Analyse des modes de gestion des violences conjugales par les institutions de contrôle social dans la ville de Ouidah (Maxime Akotchayé Houndote).. Le ndara dans l’histoire socioculturelle des dondo de boko-songho du xviie au xixe siecle (Jean Félix Yekoka)…………….…………………………. Religion and Human Rights in Nigeria (Balogun, O. O. E. & Oyebanjo, Olusegun Olatunji)......................................................................................................

218 233 251 262 277

PSYCHOLOGIE, SCIENCES DE L’EDUCATION & DIDACTIQUE 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27.

Violences sexuelles faites aux filles : profil des coupables et exploration psychopathologique des victimes (Ornheilia Zounon, Faoziath Adjassa, Sylvie de Chacus)……………………………………………………… Human Resource Management Practices and Academic Staff Productivity in Ogun State-Owned Universities, Nigeria (Hephzibah Abimbola Samuel, Arogbo John Gbenga & Oduneye, Abisola Yetunde)........................................... Curriculum Research and Development: French Language in Nigeria Since 1859 (Odizuru Iteogu)................................................................................................ Adequacy of Professional Teaching Personnel and Learning Facilities for Teaching Physics in Senior Secondary Schools in Ogun State, Nigeria (Tolu Ogunleye)........................................................................................................... Utilizing Ict-Based Tools as Effective Strategies for the Teaching and Learning of English Language in Nigeria: Possibilities, Challenges and Prospects (Ogunnaike Jimi)....................................................................................... Academic Staff Performance Appraisal as Determinant Of Effective Goal Accomplishment in Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijagun, Ogun State (Amoda M.B, Akeju A.B. & Oseji, Akpors Sunday)...................................

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285 303 303 312 323 323 331 331 349

LANGUES, LANGUES, LETTRES

Écriteaux des rues au Bé Bénin : supports de mé mémoire collective et administrative 10

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The Vicious Cycle of Gun Violence in America: How to Bend the Curb? Babacar Dieng Université Gaston Berger de Saint-Louis (Sénégal) [email protected]

Abstract Gun violence represents a major concern in American society. As a matter of fact, there is hardly any year when America is not stricken several times by thisepidemic. In addition to homicides committed with guns, accidents and suicides, several incidents of mass shootings claiming the lives of numerous innocent people massacred by angry or insane perpetrators with assault weapons can be witnessed in the breaking news across country. Fifteen incidents of mass shooting have already been recorded in the US during the month of November 2018. This article scrutinizes this topical issue; it first presents the heavy death toll of the epidemic and discusses possible solutions in light of the hurdle of the second amendment and the relative success of adopted gun-control measures. It argues that if the curb of gun violence is to be bent, tougher measures should be enforced nationwide and gun-control campaignsshould have to be more permanent and aggressive in terms of sensitizing the public, lobbying and winning votes for their candidates to resist the power and success of the NRA.

Résumé La violence par arme à feu constitue un problème très préoccupant aux Etats-Unis. En effet, chaque année l’Amérique est trop souvent frappée par cette épidémie. Hormis les homicides, les accidents et les suicides par armes à feu, beaucoup de cas de tueries de masse ravissant la vie de pauvres innocents massacrés par des frustrés ou des fous maniant des fusils d’assaut sont enregistrés. Le mois de novembre 2018 compte déjà quinze tueries de masse. Cet article passe à la loupe ce brulant sujet d’actualité. Il présente le lourd bilan de cette épidémie et propose des solutions en tenant compte de l’obstacle du second amendement à la constitution et le triste sort des mesures adoptées pour combattre le fléau. Il explique que si l’Amérique désire réellement juguler ce mal, des mesures plus draconiennes devraient être prises à l’échelle de l’ensemble du pays et des campagnes de lutte plus régulières et plus agressives devraient être menées pour sensibiliser le peuple, organiser des groupes de pression et mobiliser le voteen faveur des candidats pro-contrôle des armes à feu à l’instar du puissant lobby, le NRA.

Keywords: Keywords gun-control measures, gun violence, mass shootings, solutions, assault

Mots--clés clés: mesures de limitation des Mots armes, violence par armes à feu, tueries en masse, solutions, fusils d’assaut

weapon ban

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Introduction In the music video of his viral 2018 single, “This is America”, Donald Glover AKA Childish Gambino dramatizes numerous American realities, including drugs, racism, riots, criminality, etc. However, one can’t miss the prominence and recurrence of the motif of gun violence in the music video: not only does it open with the shooting of a man sitting on a chair head tied in a bag like in KKK executions, but also it stages the mass shooting of a gospel choir performing in a Black Church with an assault weapon, which resonates obvious echoes of the First Baptist Church shooting spree in Sutherland Springs, Texas of November 05th 2017. In addition, the lyrics of Gambino are replete with allusions to guns and police shooting black people. The prominence of the theme in Gambino’s music video reflects the important footprint of firearms on American history. Guns had been highly valuable defense and conquest tools during the settlement and the Westward expansion and necessary gadgets of the cowboy’s survival kit in the Far West. Today, they are complete instruments of self and mass destructions: the curb of gun violence has reached dreadful heights. Before Childish Gambino, several voices had expressed, sometimes with intense pathos, their devastating pain on seeing the world’s superpower torn by violence. Known for his stoicism, President Barack Obama, wiping tears from his cheeks after the 2013 mass shooting of children in Sandy Hook elementary school, called for a national response to prevent such tragedies. In a more recent editorial viewpoint of Indian Life Newspaper, Jim Uttey shouted his anger and called for a response as he commented that “no matter the number of dead in this shooting or any shooting, even one person killed is too many. The fact that people continue to die by violence in North America or throughout the world is heart-wrenching” (4). The effects of gun violence have been so pernicious in American society that some scholars such as Dr. Gary Slutkin, an infectious disease specialist and former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention epidemiologist, proposes an approach which consists in treating gun violence as an infectious epidemic (47-55). Clinical professor, Dr. Liza Gold of the psychiatric unit at Georgetown University School of Medicine, sees eye to eye with Dr. Slutin, and she encourages a public health model intervening in as many places as possible (Sean 32). In 2016, as well, Obama called guns “one of the greatest threats to public health” (The Lancet 11). The magnitude of the gun problem has also triggered scholarly inquiry. Even if research on America’s gun problem is not adequately funded at the federal level, some institutions are endeavoring to find solutions to this devastating epidemic. Innovative American institutions such as Johns Hopkins University have even opened special centers to scrutinize the various facets of the issue so as to come up with solutions. The Bloomberg School of Public Health of Johns Hopkins holds a Center for Gun Policy and Research which polarizes research on the gun problem in America. This work investigates the issue of gun violence in the US. It first measures the magnitude of the epidemic through figures and statistics to show the need for more measures. Then, it discusses how the second amendment and the gun lobby prevent great steps in gun control policies and measures. Finally, it argues that to break the cycle of

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gun violence in America, not only do present measures adopted have to be strengthened, but also the pro-gun control movements will have to resort to the same strategies as the NRA to mobilize voters, support gun control candidates and exercise pressure on the Congress and the White House. 1. The Vicious Cycle of Gun Violence America is swarming with firearms, and they are causing great harm. The number of privately owned guns is still extremely high: researchers from Harvard and Northeastern estimate them to 265 million (Gregory 32). Over the last two decades, the number of deaths and injuries from gun violence in America, especially from mass shootings, has been extremely alarming. In 2016, data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that on an average 96 Americans are killed with guns, 13,000 homicides are committed with guns, most suicides are performed with firearms, and 7 children and teens are killed with guns in the US on an average day. The previous year was as bloody as 2016: according to figures published in the AMA Journal of Ethics, there were approximately 36,252 deaths by gun violence. Besides, nearly 74,000 persons are injured per year due to firearms. Each year, the international audience is scandalized by the high number of mass shootings throughout the country, incidents which ravish thousands of innocent American lives. According to figures from the Gun Violence Archive, 317 mass shootings took place in 2018, against 346 in in 2017. Even if there may be a slight decrease, which I doubt because fifteen incidents of mass shooting have already been recorded in the US during the month of November 2018, the data is alarming. As an illustration of the recurrence of mass shooting, the August 26th, 2018 mass shooting at the Madden video game conference in Jacksonville Florida marked the 234th incident of gun violence this year. Mass shootings cause many deaths: on February14th 2018, at Majory Stoneman Douglass High School in Parkland, Florida, nineteen-year-old former student Nikolas Cruz opened fire on students and staff members killing 17 and injuring 17 others. Yet, America had seen worst than Parkland; it had witnessed mass shootings with a heavier death toll. The most recent and deadliest one in US history is no doubt the one which occurred on October 1st, 2017 in Las Vegas. Indeed, Stephen Paddock, a 64 years old man, sprayed gunfire on a crowd of concertgoers, killing 58 persons and wounding many others. When police officers breached his hotel room, they found him dead. It is believed that he shot himself after the rampage, and the reasons why he went after the crowd are unknown. Cody Wilson, director of Defense Distributed, which sells gun milling machines, identified the weapon used by Paddock as an AR-15 type rifle with a bump or slide fire modificationincluding a high-capacity magazine that can hold between 60 and 100 rounds. The bum-fire mechanism can be used to make semi-automatic firearms shoot like machine guns. Things could have been worst: 12 weapons with bump-fire stocks were found in the shooter’s hotel room. T (Horton, The Washington 196

Post Oct. 3, 2017).

Only a month after this bloodshed, in November 2017, Devin Patrick Kelley gunned down 26 persons at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, a small rural town in Texas. It was the deadliest mass shooting in the history of state. Kelley had also used an AR-15. This semi-automatic weapon created by Arma Lite in the 1950s can be purchased with no waiting period in Florida and does not qualify any more as an assault weapon although it was banned under the 1994 assault weapon ban and outlawed. Yet this rifle which can be equipped with a 100 round drum magazine for just $116,99 is “a highly deadly military inspired rifle” which has been used in many mass shootings, including Orlando, Parkland, Santa Monica, Sandy Hook, San Bernardino, and now Texas (Drabold, Will and Alex Fitzpatrick, Time 18 Feb. 2018). Less than a year and a half before that bloody November day, on June 2016, another tragedy had taken place in Orlando, Florida, at a gay nightclub. Omar Saddiqui Matin, 29, opened fire inside the Pulse killing 49 people at least and injuring more than 50. Matin was shot and killed by the Police officers in their attempt to free hostages. Among the shootings worse than the mythic Columbine one, one can list the killing rampage on the Blacksburgh campus of Virginia Tech. Student Seung-Hui Cho went on a shooting spree killing 32 people and wounding a considerable number of students at two locations on campus. Like in many previous cases, the shooter committed suicide. Although less high in terms of death toll, the Sandy Hook Elementary School, in Newtown, Connecticut, remains the most heart-wrenching and painful shooting ever witnessed in the breaking news because it had hit innocent children who had yet bitten the flesh of life. This mass shooting, which raised many debates about the need to act also raised much emotion in then-President Obama. Adams Lanza had shot to death twenty children aged between 6 and 7 and six adults before killing himself. America and the world watched the images, consternated and powerless like President Obama who had tried in vain to make the legislature adopt gun-control measures. Before Newtown, there had been countless other tragic shootings in public places perpetrated by discontented, frustrated and mentally sick people with quasi-assault weapons which had sweptaway the lives of numerous victims: Luby’s Cafeteria, the University of Texas, San Ysidro’s Mac Donald’s, the Inland Regional Center in California and Edmond Post Office. In most cases, the shooters kill themselves or are shot by the Police. Among the top motives why they go on shooting rampages, one can list mental sickness, suicidal psychopathy, schizophrenia, fascination for firearms and mass shootings, major depressive disorders, and depression. Very few of these shooters are motivated by revenge or political reasons. Whatever the reasons, something needs to be done to stop gun violence in America. As Gregory Sean, Chris Wilson and Alice Park observe consternated in an article entitled “What We Can Do to Stop it,”that “no other developed country has such a high rate of gun violence. A March 2016 study in the American Journal of Medicine found that Americans are 25 times more likely to die from gun homicide than people in other wealthy countries” (32). While some countries have succeeded in nipping gun violence in the bud, the US

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has been struggling with this epidemic for some decades now. Australia and Britain were both confronted with a serious gun problem in the 1990s, but authorities were quick to respond with drastic measures and were therefore able to reduce gun violence. Indeed, after Martin Bryant fatally shot 35 people and wounded 23 with his Colt Ar-15 semiautomatic rifle at a tourist destination in Port Arthur on 28 April 1996, a campaign to reform Australia’s gun laws was immediately undertaken and a new law banning semiautomatic rifles and shotguns was adopted. At the same time, the government initiated a gigantic buyback program which enabled the destruction of 650, 000 weapons. Thus, Australia succeeded in limiting the use of guns through reform and buyback programs. Likewise, in Britain, after the March 1996 school massacre in Dunblane, Scotland, which left 16 children aged 5 and 6 dead, along with two teachers, handguns were quickly banned. Statistics show that in both countries, gun violence, murders and successful suicides all are down (Goodman, The Guardian 20 Dec 2012). In America, no significant legislative progress has been made to effectively limit gun use since the 1990s and gun violence remains rampant. Webster and Vernick deplore this situation when they state that after Newtown “the only gun-related legislation passed was a renewal of a ban against firearms undetectable to metal detectors” (Webster and Vernick 2). Which measures have been taken so far? Why does the epidemic continue to ravish lives? Why haven’t successful legislative measures and policies been taken so far to prevent mass shootings with assault weapons? 2. The hurdle of the Second Amendment and the NRA’s power In my view, the second amendment to the US Constitution represents the main obstacle to the adoption of tougher laws and the implementation of effective solutions to the gun problem. Gun control policies have not prospered in the US because of the constitutional hurdle of the Second Amendment and the rhetoric and intense lobbying the NRA and gun rights’ supporters have constructed around it. The Second Amendment opens space for various interpretations. It states: A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.. Professor Tushnet, who has written a book-length study on the second Amendment identifies “two basic models that define debates over interpretation of the Second Amendment”: the “Standard Model” (also referred to as the individual rights’ model) and the “traditional Model” (also called the collective rights” or “states’ rights’ view) (Landman 237). He explains that the Standard Model argues that the Second Amendment “was designed to secure rights in individuals to own and weapons to use in defense of the country and in their own defense.” The traditional one contends that the Second Amendment guarantees a right connected with participation in the organized militia of the country (Landman 237). 198

Taking into consideration court decisions and the reading of the political landscape, one can say that the Standard Model has been more common and predominant over generations. As a matter of fact, courts have struck down bans on handgun ownership and other forms of gun control measures limiting access to weapons as unconstitutional. Many gun-control legislations are perceived as erosions of the US Second Amendment which enshrines individuals’ rights to own gun for defense against government’s oppression as well as for purposes of self-defense. Obviously, many politicians have also suffered from their gun-control courage which have fired back as boomerangs. For instance, President Clinton lost 54 seats in the House and 8 in the Senate when he signed into law the 1994 assault weapon ban less than two months before the mid-term elections. In his own view, his bold decision certainly made Al Gore lose the 2000 elections (Elliot, Time September 2016). Politicians in general are very aware of the NRA’s electoral power and many court the association. The Cato Institutes and the NRA have succeeded in constructing an efficient rhetoric around the second amendment and individual gun rights. For them, the second amendment is about protecting people’s right to own guns for self-defense, hunting and sport. They have convinced the public at large that a good guy with a gun is the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun. Even democrats who are reputed to be more in favor of gun control make sure they brandish their sacrosanct respect of the second amendment. In addition to discourse, the other strength of the NRA, resides in its capacity to mobilize grassroots support, influence elections and exercise lobby. This powerful association was founded in 1871 and now it claims 5 million active members. Adam Winkler, professor of constitutional law at the UCLA School of Law and author of Gunfight: The Battle over the Right to Bear Arms in America and journalist Dominic Rushe find that the NRA’s power derives from its capacity to mobilize grassroots voters and swing primaries in favor of pro-gun candidates. Thus, even democrats such as John Kerry court their votes hiding behind love of hunting. Others such as President Donald Trump openly support the NRA. The pro-gun lobby has much contributed to his election, and he attended their annual conference shortly before his 100th day as President elect of the US to thank them and reiterate his promise to support the powerful lobby. “You came through for me, and I am going to come through for you,” he promised them. As a result of its elective power, the NRA has become a powerful lobby weighing on elections and influencing legislative decisions. As “America’s foremost defender of the Second Amendment rights,” it makes sure no effective policies of gun control passes through the Congress or states. For instance, as part of the 23 executive orders President Obama decided in January 2013 that the CDC was supposed to fund gun violence prevention measures but the organization discontinued such funding many years ago when it felt pressure from Congress as a result of the political influence of the NRA.It is also quite obvious that Congress cut $2.6 million from the CDC budget, which was equal to the federal agency’s expenditure on firearm-injury research the prior year under the pressure of the NRA and gun rights’ lobbyistsIn 1996 also, the NRA pushed through the Dickey Amendment which forbade to spend CDC funds on research that

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“may be used to advocate or promote gun control” (Webster and Vernick 31-5). Moreover, the NRA and gun rights lobby have such a tremendous power and lobbying influence that Federal laws were adopted to even offer great protections to the gun manufacturers. The Congress’ 2005 Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act shields gun manufacturers and sellers from civil claims brought by victims of gun violence” (Webster and Vernick 35). The NRA also resorts to economic sanctions such as boycotts to reach its aims. In New Jersey, the association exercised pressure on companies willing to improve smart gun technology when a law was passed in 2002 requiring that the state’s retailers sell only personalized, or smart, guns within three years of their being available for sale elsewhere in the U.S. Smith & Wesson, one of the largest handgun manufacturers in the U.S., agreed to develop smart-gun technology in the wake of the Columbine school shooting in 2000. The NRA condemned itand gun owners boycotted Smith & Wesson’s firearms whose sales plummeted. The gun manufacturer quickly backed up and since then no major gun manufacturers have invested in the technology. 3. Adopting the public health model to curb gun violence in America In a Time article entitled “What We Can Do to Stop it” Gregory et al propose very pertinent measures to reduce gun-violence, more specifically the six following steps: 1) making owning a gun like driving a car, including putting more rigorous requirements for owning a gun and demanding that every buyer gets a license including a registration of all purchases and undergoes a modest training; 2) enacting the right restrictions by issuing restraining orders which allow family members or law enforcement to temporarily bar a person at risk from purchasing firearms or allow the Police to confiscate guns to save lives;” 3) involving doctors to educate families about gun safety and keeping guns out of the hands of young children 4) investing in technology to develop smart guns that could eventually prevent crimes or suicides with weapons owned by somebody else and lower the number of accidental shootings; 5) funding research on gun violence; and 6) ending immunity offering the gun industry extraordinary protections. I totally share Gregory et al’s propositions because I am convinced that if America is to bend down gun violence, not only preventive and active measures should be taken, but also gun control organizations will have to engage in a permanent campaign build around a stronger and more convincing discourse to mobilize the American voters and exercise counter pressure on the American local governments and legislature. Among other preventive measures, I believe that doctors should be involved to educate families and children about gun violence and sensitize them about accidents that can occur. Besides, a national campaign should be initiated to address the issue. Given the scope of gun violence, funds should also be invested in research to combat the epidemic, for I firmly believe that research on gun violence does not equate eroding the second amendment and individuals’ rights to bear weapons. By the same token, psychiatrists should communicate the list of mentally sick people prone to substance abuse or with a 200

history of violence. Another pertinent preventive and educational measure is to make all gun users apply for a permit and undergo a training similar to the one some states require for concealed carry with a permit. States could eventually require gun owners to take a safety course and be tested to make sure they know how to shoot and handle a gun. Funding and encouraging research to develop smart guns could also prevent unauthorized persons or children to use guns. The CDC’s statistics show that 500 people on average are victims of unintentional deaths every single year. If smart guns are generalized, they could help “prevent crimes or suicides with weapons owned by somebody else. They can also cut down on accidental shootings” (Gregory 33). Legislation should be pushed further to adopt universal background checksto make sure weapons fall in the right hands. Universal background checks would ensure that firearms are not in the hands of criminals, or people at risk.Wintemute, an expert who has thoroughly researched the issue, is convinced that comprehensive background checks could significantly reduce gun violence. He explains that, in states that do not require them, 40 % of weapons’ transfers occur between private parties and criminals can easily have access to lethal weapons without resort to straw purchasers. He argues that comprehensive background checks on sales of weapons through the Internet could prevent about 4.8% of prohibited persons or felons from buying weapons. Thus, state policies should require background checks for all people who want to buy guns from the Internet. Maybe it would be too radical to ban the sales of weapons on the Internet, but states should generalize the practice which consists of routing all private-party sales through licensed retailers so that background checks can be conducted, suggesting that such policies do prevent undocumented, anonymous, and illegal firearm sales. In addition to comprehensive background checks, heavy penalties should be laid on unlicensed persons selling firearms because they are the ones felons with criminal intent buy firearms from. For background checks to be efficient, databases should be improved as President Obama stipulated in his executive orders. Gun disqualifying some categories of persons would certainly help combat the gun problem in America. Criminals, former juvenile delinquents, people with a history of substance abuse be it alcohol or drugs, and persons with a history of violence should not be allowed to own gun as they constitute potential threats to themselves and society. Research done by Vittes and some colleagues shows that if the states had enacted firearms prohibitions on subjects falling under these five categories when they committed a crime would have reduced by nearly half to 30.8% gun violence (Wintemute 13-14). Similarly, making sure that mentally sick people do not own a gun would impact positively the American communities’ safety. Swanson asserts that “if schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression were cured, our society’s problem of violence would diminish by only 4%” (101-136). 4% is not insignificant, and the percentage may even be higher as it is scientifically proven that mentally sick persons are prone to violence under the influence of substances such as alcohol, and we know that about 3.5 million people with serious mental illness are not undergoing treatment (Kessler et al. 2001). Besides, assault weapons, including all types of weapons that could be upgraded into machine guns should be banned. If not, laws should be adopted to prevent

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modifying the original purpose of a weapon such as the AR-15.Assault weapons or all types of weapons with a high capacity magazine or the ones that can be modified into military type should be banned. Had the 1994 assault weapon ban lasted, it could have saved the lives of many people killed in shootings after 2004 because it is the weapon that has been used in many mass shootings. Cases in point, shooters used them in Newtown, Aurora, Santa Monica and San Bernardino, Orlando, Florida and Parkland. Motivated by the killing of five children and the injury of 29 more in a schoolyard in Stockton California in 1989 with an assault rifle lasted, this ban was adopted after Senator Howard Metzenbaum introduced an assault weapon bill. However, it only lasted ten years. Whereas some believe that it was ineffective because there were too many loopholes in it (Goodman,The Guardian 20 Dec 2012), others consider that it had significant impact because it was never intended to be a comprehensive fix for “gun violence” as its objective was to reduce the frequency and lethality of mass shootings. Given the present geopolitical set up in Washington, it will be very hard to pass tough gun control legislation for several reasons. The NRA has much influence in the present configuration of power. The pro-gun lobby has clearly contributed to the election of President Donald Trump and countless other Senators and Representatives. Most of the lawmakers are Republican pro-gun whom the NRA has supported, and they refuse to debate gun-control measures introduced at the Congress. With a Republican President and majority of Republicans in the House (236 out of the 435 members) and the Senate (51 against 49 Democrat senators), gun control legislation is not likely to pass. The NRA and gun rights’ lobbies are so powerful in America that most of these measures may not see their way through state and federal legislature. For this reason, it is important that gun control organizations stop acting only in periods of crisis. So far, policies have been crisis driven. Now more than ever, many Americans are convinced that something needs to be done because mass killings are happening too often across the country, taking and devastating the lives of innocent citizens. Gun control organizations should mobilize all these Americans who say no to gun violence and convince the other American citizens and politicians that the right to bear arms should not rob innocent people from a right to live and pursue happiness in a safer world where firearms are in good hands. South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham rightly explains that the right to bear arms is a constitutional right. “But every rightwhether speech or buying a weapon or any other constitutional right-has boundaries on it.” Boundaries mean laws framing that right. America has to understand that a certain number of measures should be taken to bend the curb of gun violence. Conclusion Gun violence is a real epidemic that is killing too many people in America, and it is high time radical measures were taken to bend its vicious cycle. Tens of thousands of Americans are killed every year by guns, including tragic mass shootings with assault weapons that should not be owned by private individuals, accidental deaths of children 202

and adults, homicides, suicides, etc. Gun control actions have so far been crisis-driven and sporadic. Tragedies have occurred in Columbine, Virginia Tech, Sandy Hoook and numerous states in the US, and every time, responses have been the same predictable ones: “a now predictable cycle of thoughts and prayers, calls for new gun laws, debate over their need and then, usually, little else. Until the next one” (Gregory 32). It is high time permanent and sustained actions were carried out to put an end to gun violence. Crisis-driven measures had been taken and other legislative attempts have been made, but even if some are very good they did not fare well, were curtailed by gun rights or simply wiped out by powerful lobbies. Therefore, it is important that gun control organizations join forces to regroup in a coalition with enough intellectual, human and financial resources to stand up to the NRA. Besides, preventive and proactive measures such as sensitization campaigns, licensing, trainings, mandatory criminal background checks on gun-buyers and several other measures including a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, improving databases, using technology to develop smart weapons, improved school safety and mental health services, government research into the causes of gun violence should be taken. Only a public health model acting on every possible solutions to eradicate the epidemic of gun violence can take America out of this vicious cycle. References Appelbaum, P. S. 2013. “Public Safety, Mental Disorders, andGuns.” JAMA Psychiatry 70/6: 565–566. Appelbaum, P. S., and J. W. Swanson. 2010. “Gun Lawsand Mental Illness: How Sensible Are the Current Restrictions?” Psychiatric Services 61: 652–654. Webster, D. W. ScD, MPH and Jon S. Vernick, JD, MPH (Eds). 2014. Updated Evidence and Policy Developments on Reducing Gun Violence in America. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. Drabold, W. and Alex Fitzpatrick.2018 “The Florida SchoolShooter Used An AR-15 Rifle. Here's What to Know Aboutthe Gun.”Time Updated: February 20. 2:57 PM ET Originally published: February 15. Goodman, A. 2012. “Gun control in America: the fierce urgency of now” The Guardian Thu 20 Dec. Horton, A. 2017.“The Las Vegas Shooter Modified a DozenRifles to shoot like Automatic Weapons.” Washington Post. Oct 3. Jackson, D. 2013. “Biden to mayors: 'We have to act' on guns.”USA Today, JAN 18. Section: News, 03a. Klarevas, L. 2016. Rampage Nation: Securing America from Mass Shootings. New York: Prometheus Books, 2016. Landman, J. H. 2007. “Interpretations of Amendment II. Out of Range: An interview with Mark Tushneton the Second Amendment.Social Amendment.”Social Education 71.5 (September): 237. Rosenthal, L. and A. Winkler. 2014. “The SecondAmendment.” In Updated Evidence and Policy Developments on Reducing Gun Violence in America. Eds. Daniel

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W.Webster, ScD, MPH and Jon S. Vernick, JD, MPH. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. Rushe, D. 2018. “Why is the National Rifle Association sopowerful?” The Guardian. First published on Friday May 4th. Sean, G., C. Wilson and A. Park.2018. “What We CanDo to Stop it.” Time. 4/2: 3235. Slutkin G, R. Zvetina. 2018. “How the Health Sector Canreduce violence by treating it as a contagion. AMA J Ethics 20 : 47-55. Swanson, J. W. 1994. “Mental Disorder, Substance Abuse,and Community Violence: An Epidemiological Approach.” In Violence and Mental Disorder, edited by J. Monahan and H. Steadman, 101–136. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Swanson, J. W. 2013. “Mental Illness and New Gun Law Reforms: The Promiseand Peril of Crisis-Driven Policy.”JAMA 309 (12): 1233–1234. Swanson, J. W. and A. G. Robertson. 2014. “Thinking Differently about Mental Illness, Violence Risk, and Gun Rights.”In Updated Evidence and Policy Developments on Reducing Gun Violence in America. Eds. Daniel W. Webster, ScD, MPH and Jon S. Vernick, JD, MPH. Baltimore: JohnsHopkins University Press. Teret, S. P. 2014. “Personalized Guns Progress Report.” InUpdated Evidence and Policy Developments on Reducing Gun Violence in America. Eds. Daniel W. Webster, ScD,MPH and Jon S. Vernick, JD, MPH. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. Uttey, J. 2016. “Another Mass Shooting? Perhaps. Lookingbeyond Orlando.” Indian Life Newspaper July-August: 4. Wintemute, G. J. 2014. “Broadening Denial Criteria.” In Updated Evidence and Policy Developments on Reducing Gun Violence in America. Eds. Daniel W. Webster, ScD, MPH and Jon S. Vernick, JD, MPH. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. Wintemute, G. J. 2014.“Comprehensive Background Checks: New Evidence and Rethinking “Comprehensive.”In Updated Evidence and Policy Developments on Reducing Gun Violence in America. Eds. Daniel W. Webster, ScD, MPH and Jon S. Vernick, JD, MPH. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

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