Rencana Komprehensif Now is the Time untuk Mengurangi Kekerasan Bersenjata Api di Amerika Serikat

Reza Laksmana Nugraha, Nur Rachmat Yuliantoro

2015 | Skripsi | Ilmu Hubungan Internasional

ABSTRACT The right to bear arms has become a major debate in the U.S. since Second Amendment under the Bill of Rights was approved by founding fathers. The debate occurs between the gun-rights group who believes Second Amendment protects individual right and gun-control group who believes the protection of collective rights that the Second Amendment has become obsolete since police and military have replaced the role of citizen militia in contemporary era. The view of gun-control group emerged as a result of gun violence which has often happened not only on grassroots level, but also on political one and placed the U.S. as developed country with highest gun-related murder rate in the world. There have been many gun laws enforced in the past history, but the U.S. still faces serious debate when it comes to controlling the guns. Considering Second Amendment was adopted to protect civil liberty against the threat of tyrannic governments, policy makers must be very careful to create laws that are effective to address the problem, while at the same time not to hamper the right to bear arm. Therefore, “Now is the Time” was proposed under Obama’s second-term administration in the beginning of 2013 by emphasizing it as common-sense steps to reduce gun violence. This policy proposal is the federal government’s response to the intensive mass shootings happening in 2012, especially the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School which killed 20 innocent five to ten year-old kids and 6 school staffs who were trying to protect their students. The shooter, Adam Lanza, committed suicide after killing his own mother who owned the used guns legally in her house before going to the school. “Now is the Time” proposed some measures to reduce gun violence in executive and legislative actions. Under legislative actions, Congress has been requested to change and adopt new laws, as well as to allocate federal budget which focuses on four points; closing background check loopholes; banning military-style assault weapons and high capacity magazines; making schools safer; and increasing access to mental health services. This plan gains support from Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, other interest groups, and people who favor stricter gun control. But, this step has also been strongly opposed by gun enthusiasts and the National Rifle Association, which defends Second Amendment by building close political relations with the Republican Party. This thesis focuses in analyzing the process behind the proposal of “Now is the Time.” It will analyze the factors that affect the creation of this plan and how it is finally proposed by Obama. The author argue that the plan is proposed as a result of series of gun violence and political pressure that President Obama received, so it urged the White House to find immediate and concrete solutions. The author’s arguments will be based on the multiple streams and window of opportunity theory by John Kingdon which emphasizes on agenda-setting process of a policy-making. Total words: 10,993 Keywords: gun violence, gun-right, gun-control, shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Barack Obama, “Now is the Time.”

Kata Kunci : Senjata Nuklir - Amerika Serikat