[by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.20]The day after 49 people were killed at a nightclub in Orlando, [00:05.44]U.S. President Barack Obama called on the nation [00:09.17]to make it harder for people who might be a threat to get guns [00:14.24]-- just as he had after other mass shootings. [00:18.76]Obama said, "We have to decide if that's the kind of country we want to be. [00:26.00]And to actively do nothing is a decision, as well." [00:31.17]But gun control proposals from Obama and others [00:35.64]appear to have no better chance of passing Congress [00:39.12]than they did after earlier mass killings. [00:42.56]"It's a good bet that Congress will continue" to do nothing on gun control, [00:49.00]said Philip Cook, a professor at Duke University in North Carolina. [00:54.77]The Republican Party controls Congress, [00:58.16]and most of its elected officials oppose new gun control bills, he said. [01:05.40]The weapon used in the Orlando nightclub shootings was a Sig Sauer MCX rifle. [01:12.56]It is a version of the AR-15 rifle and similar to the M-16 weapon used by the U.S. military. [01:20.84]Military-style weapons have also been used in other mass killings, [01:26.18]including the killing of 14 at San Bernardino, [01:30.28]the murder of 20 first graders and six adults at an elementary school in Newtown, [01:36.76]and the killing of 12 at a movie theater in the state of Colorado. [01:41.68]Sunday's mass killings at an Orlando nightclub [01:46.08]and the killings at a holiday party in San Bernardino last year [01:50.24]were carried out by people inspired by Islamic State militants, [01:54.96]according to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation. [01:59.96]The Violence Policy Center said the rifle that Omar Mateen used to kill 49 in Orlando [02:06.96]is the weapon of choice for mass killings. [02:10.68]Congress should ban it and similar weapons, said Josh Sugarmann, the center's executive director. [02:18.12]He said assault weapons like the one used in the Orlando shooting [02:22.64]"were designed for a simple purpose: [02:24.96]to kill as many people as quickly and efficiently as possible." [02:29.72]But opponents of gun control say the AR-15 [02:34.29]is used by millions of Americans legally for target practice, [02:38.80]hunting and shooting competition. [02:42.04]"These terrorists hate us because our way of life is not compatible with their beliefs," [02:48.60]said Dan Zelenka, president of the Louisiana Shooting Association. [02:53.40]"To allow the actions of a terrorist [02:56.48]to affect the constitutional rights of law-abiding Americans is an anathema." [03:02.72]Anathema is a word used to say that people are strongly opposed to something. [03:10.24]Sales of some AR-15s and other military-style weapons [03:14.48]were blocked by a 1994 assault weapon ban. [03:18.96]But Congress refused to continue the law 10 years later. [03:23.16]The National Rifle Association, which opposes most gun control legislation, [03:28.64]asked Congress to end the assault weapon ban. [03:33.36]Robert Spitzer is an expert on gun control issues [03:36.76]at the State University of New York at Cortland. [03:40.24]He said many people outside the United States have a hard time understanding [03:45.28]why so many Americans – an estimated 100 million – own guns. [03:50.84]He explained: "They (guns) represent a feeling of American individualism, [03:56.64]the idea that Americans don't want to rely on others for self-protection, [04:01.88]such as police or government," he said. [04:05.08]There are more guns in America than other countries. [04:09.56]The last major study, done in 2007 by the Small Arms Survey, [04:15.72]said the United States has 88.8 guns for every 100 people, [04:21.40]more than No. 2 Yemen, which had 54.9 per 100 residents, [04:26.60]and No. 3 Switzerland, with 45.7 guns per 100 people. [04:33.16]The question of how Americans feel about gun control is complex, [04:37.64]with both sides even disagreeing [04:40.04]over how much regulation is permitted by the U.S. Constitution. [04:44.96]The Pew Research Center, for example, found in 2015 [04:50.24]that large percentages of both Democrats and Republicans [04:54.00]favor requiring people buying guns to complete a background check. [04:58.64]But it said many conservatives fear such legislation [05:02.72]would lead to the taking away of peoples' guns. [05:07.12]A background check looks at whether someone has done something in the past [05:11.24]– such as a violent act – or has mental health problems [05:15.12]that would make gun ownership risky. [05:17.95]Currently, people buying guns from private owners [05:21.56]can avoid a background check in most U.S. states. [05:25.28]That is the "loophole," or exception, that Obama and others want to end. [05:32.12]The issue of whether to limit gun purchases has become an issue in the presidential race [05:37.20]between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton. [05:41.88]On Monday, Clinton called for several steps. [05:44.96]Among them: a ban on the sale of military-style weapons, [05:49.52]better background checks and a ban on gun purchases by people on "no fly" lists [05:55.88]because of concerns about their support of terrorism. [05:59.72]"If you're too dangerous to get on a plane, [06:02.88]you are too dangerous to buy a gun in America," Clinton said. [06:08.30]Trump said he favored blocking people from countries with large numbers of terrorists [06:14.04]from coming to the United States, but no new gun laws. [06:19.04]"They tried that in France which has among the toughest gun laws anywhere in the world, [06:24.92]and 130 people were brutally murdered by Islamic terrorists in cold blood," Trump said. [06:32.44]He was talking about the November attacks on a concert hall, [06:36.48]restaurants and a sports stadium in Paris. [06:40.24]I'm Bruce Alpert. [06:42.40]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM