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A perennial American question why has gun control failed
美国老大难问题：为什么枪支无法得到控制？
From one angle, the answer is complicated;from another, it’s devastatingly simple. Tom McCarthy on the key features of the American gun control debate
一方面来看，问题答案错综复杂；而另一方面看，答案又十分简单，这真是讽刺意味十足。汤姆·麦卡锡带你从特点来解析美国枪支管理辩论
perennial lasting a very long time, or happening repeatedly or all the time长期存在的；常年的；不断发生的；反复的 ~problem
from one angle, …; fromanother
错综复杂 错：交错，交叉；综：合在一起。形容头绪多，情况复杂。《周易·系辞上》
The gunman who killed 59 people and wounded527 in Las Vegas on Sunday night qualified as a “super-owner” – one of the estimated 7.7 million Americans who own between eight and 140 guns.
10.1日晚，枪手在拉斯维加斯射杀了59人，527人因此受伤。这位枪手算得上是枪械“大户”——在美国，大约有770万人持有8支以上，140以下的枪械。
Little is yet known about Stephen Paddock and his motives. But the apparent ease with which he acquired his arsenal – 42 guns and thousands of rounds of ammunition,according to police – has renewed the urgency of a perennial American question:why can’t the United States effect sensible gun control?
关于史蒂芬·帕多克的生平和其杀人动机还未得到充分了解。但是他如此轻易地就可以买到42支枪械和几百发子弹（数据来自警方），这使得一个美国老大难的问题又浮现在了人们的面前：为什么美国不能有效地实行枪支管理？
Look at Australia, which enacted a ban and mandatory buyback of more than 600,000 long guns following a mass shooting in 1996, effectively ending the problem of mass shootings (already rare) and halving gun deaths. Why can’t the United States do that?
焦点转至澳大利亚，在1996年群众枪击事件之后，政府颁布了禁令，强制地从持枪者手里回购了60万长枪，有效地制止了群众枪击事件的再次发现（现已十分罕见），死于枪口之下的人减少了一半。那么为什么美国不能效仿澳大利亚呢？
buyback an arrangement in which a business or person sells something, especially shares in companies, and then buys them again according to an agreement（尤指股票的）回购
halve[ T ] to reduce something by half or divide something into two equal pieces使减半；把…二等分；[ I ] If something halves, it is reduced by half.减半
From one angle,the answer is complicated. It involves the powerful gun lobby, political partisanship, the hundreds of millions of gunsalready in US civilian hands, the fact that mass shootings, while horrifying,represent only a sliverof US gundeaths, and a national mythology attached to guns.
一方面看，问题答案错综复杂，包括强势的阻止禁枪法案的游说团体、政治党派性、数千万已经持有枪械的美国公民、群众枪击事件（虽然十分恐怖）只占美国死于枪击人数的小部分，还有就是美国大众对枪的错误认知。
gunlobby 游说议员反对管制枪具买卖的人
sliver a very small, thin piece of something, usually broken off something larger碎片，薄片a ~ of
mythology myths in general神话；a popular belief that is probably not true普遍但错误的看法popular ~
From anotherangle, the answer is simple. The United States could, in fact, adopt gun control – if the public felt strongly enough about it. “If public opinion doesnot demand change in Congress, it will not change,” Barack Obama said in June 2014.
另一方面看，答案十分简单。事实上，如果公众足够强硬，美国就可以进行枪支控制。巴拉克·奥巴马在2014年六月说到：“如果人民没有要求国会做出改变，那么国会就不会改变。”
A majority of US gun owners – 74% – say the right to own a gun is “essential” to their freedom,according to Pew Research, while only 44% believe that the ease with which people can legally obtain guns contributes at least a fair amount to gun violence. The disagreements only expand from there.
根据皮尤研究中心数据，大部分（74%）美国持枪人士认为持有枪支的权利对他们的自由“十分重要”，而只有44%的人认为人们可以合法地轻易地买到枪支至少会造成相当数量的枪击暴力。观点从这里开始分歧。
Pew Research 皮尤研究中心
In the wake ofthe most deadly mass shooting in the United States, here are key features ofthe American gun control debate.
美国大部分群众枪击致死事件之后，以下是美国枪支管理辩论的主要特征。
How outrage fizzles
Opponents of guncontrol feared new restrictions after the killing of 20 six- andseven-year-olds at Sandy Hook elementary school in December 2012. The national outrage was intense, and legislators who previously were not interested in gun control measures suddenly were.
民愤是怎么平息的
2012年12月，20名六七岁的孩童在桑迪胡克小学惨遭枪击射杀，反对禁枪人士担心政府又会颁布新的管制措施。那时候整个美国义愤填膺，之前对枪支管理措施不以为意的立法者突然对其产生了浓厚兴趣。
outrage[ U ] a feeling of anger and shock愤慨，义愤provoke ~ from the public/across the country
fizzle[ I ] mainly US to gradually end逐渐结束；逐渐破灭
义愤填膺 义愤：对违反正义的事情所产生的愤怒；膺：胸。发于正义的愤懑充满胸中。南北朝·江淹《恨赋》
不以为意 不把它放在心上。表示对人、对事抱轻视态度。《三国志·吴书·陆凯传》
Two senators,Democrat Joe Manchin and Republican Pat Toomey, sponsored a bill that would have imposed universal background checks for commercial gun purchases,including at gun shows and over the internet. Eighty-four percent of Americans favor such a law.
民主党人士乔·曼钦和共和党人士帕特·图米，这两位参议员提交了一份法案，要求全面调查商业购买枪支人士的背景，包括在枪支展览上和网上的购买。84%美国人支持这一法案。
But after participating in initial negotiations over the bill, the National Rifle Associationcame out in strong opposition and falsely claimed the bill would lead to a national gun registry.Four Democrats defected, not enough Republicans came onboard and the legislation went down. “The gun lobby and its allies willfully lied about the bill,” Obama said in a furious Rose Garden speech.
但是，参与第一轮法案协商之后，美国步枪协会表示强烈反对，并且谎称这一法案会导致全国枪械必须登记注册。四名民主党人士放弃支持该法案，剩余的共和党人士人数不足，无法继续该法案。奥巴马在玫瑰园演讲时气愤地说：“反对禁枪团体和其同党混淆是非。”
National Rifle Association美国步枪协会
registry a place where official records are kept登记处，注册处
wilful(of something bad) done intentionally or (of a person) determined to do exactly
as you want, even if you know it is wrong故意的；任性的；固执的
混淆是非 混淆：使界限不清。故意把正确的说成错误的，把错误的说成正确的。清·陶曾佑《论文学之势力及其关系》