Push for Gun Control After Orlando Shooting

The day after 49 people were killed at a nightclub in Orlando, U.S. President Barack Obama called on the nation to make it harder for people who might be a threat to get guns -- just as he had after other mass shootings.
在奥兰多一家夜店有49人被杀害的次日，美国总统奥巴马呼吁该国让潜在威胁者更难获得枪支--就像其它大规模枪击事件后他所做的一样。

Obama said, "We have to decide if that's the kind of country we want to be. And to actively do nothing is a decision, as well."
奥巴马表示，“我们必须要决定，我们是否想要成为这种国家。而积极地不作为也不失为一种决定。”

But gun control proposals from Obama and others appear to have no better chance of passing Congress than they did after earlier mass killings.
但是在早前的大规模枪击事件之后，奥巴马等人的枪支管制提案似乎也没有获得比此前更好的机会在国会通过。

"It's a good bet that Congress will continue" to do nothing on gun control, said Philip Cook, a professor at Duke University in North Carolina. The Republican Party controls Congress, and most of its elected officials oppose new gun control bills, he said.
北卡罗来纳州杜克大学教授菲利普·库克（Philip Cook）表示，“可以很肯定地说，国会对枪支管制还是会毫无作为。”他说，共和党控制着国会，而国会中大部分民选官员反对新的枪支管制法案。

Military-style weapon used in mass killings
大规模枪击事件中的军事化武器

The weapon used in the Orlando nightclub shootings was a Sig Sauer MCX rifle. It is a version of the AR-15 rifle and similar to the M-16 weapon used by the U.S. military.
在奥兰多夜店枪击事件中使用的武器是一把Sig Sauer MCX步枪。这是AR-15步枪的版本之一，类似于美军使用的M-16武器。

Military-style weapons have also been used in other mass killings, including the killing of 14 at San Bernardino, the murder of 20 first graders and six adults at an elementary school in Newtown, and the killing of 12 at a movie theater in the state of Colorado.
军事化武器在其它大规模枪击事件中也被用到，包括圣贝纳迪诺14人被枪杀，纽顿镇一所小学20名一年级学生和6名成人被谋杀，以及科罗拉多州电影院12人被枪杀。

Sunday's mass killings at an Orlando nightclub and the killings at a holiday party in San Bernardino last year were carried out by people inspired by Islamic State militants, according to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation.
根据美国联邦调查局的信息，周日奥兰多夜店发生的大规模枪击事件以及去年圣贝纳迪诺一场假日聚会上的枪击事件都是那些受到伊斯兰国武装分子鼓动的人士发动的。

The Violence Policy Center said the rifle that Omar Mateen used to kill 49 in Orlando is the weapon of choice for mass killings. Congress should ban it and similar weapons, said Josh Sugarmann, the center's executive director.
美国暴力政策中心称奥马尔·马丁（Omar Mateen）在奥兰多杀害49人所用的这种步枪是大规模枪击事件的首选武器。该中心执行主任Josh Sugarmann表示，国会应该禁止这种步枪以及类似武器。

He said assault weapons like the one used in the Orlando shooting "were designed for a simple purpose: to kill as many people as quickly and efficiently as possible."
他说，奥兰多枪击事件中所用到的这类攻击性武器的设计只有一个简单目的：尽可能更快更有效地杀死尽可能多的人。

But opponents of gun control say the AR-15 is used by millions of Americans legally for target practice, hunting and shooting competition.
但是枪支管制反对者表示，AR-15步枪被数百万美国人合法用于打靶、打猎以及射击比赛。

"These terrorists hate us because our way of life is not compatible with their beliefs," said Dan Zelenka, president of the Louisiana Shooting Association. "To allow the actions of a terrorist to affect the constitutional rights of law-abiding Americans is an anathema."
路易斯安那射击协会会长丹·泽伦卡（Dan Zelenka）表示“这些恐怖分子憎恨我们，是因为我们的生活方式与他们的信仰不相容。让恐怖分子的行为影响到守法美国人的宪法权力是不能容忍的。”

Anathema is a word used to say that people are strongly opposed to something.
Anathema这个词被用于表示人们强烈反对某事。

Sales of some AR-15s and other military-style weapons were blocked by a 1994 assault weapon ban. But Congress refused to continue the law 10 years later. The National Rifle Association, which opposes most gun control legislation, asked Congress to end the assault weapon ban.
AR-15等军事化武器的销售曾经被《1994年突击武器禁令》所禁止。但是国会在10年后拒绝继续执行这条法律。反对大部分枪支管制立法的全国步枪协会要求国会结束突击武器禁令。

More guns in U.S. than other countries
美国枪支多于他国

Robert Spitzer is an expert on gun control issues at the State University of New York at Cortland. He said many people outside the United States have a hard time understanding why so many Americans – an estimated 100 million – own guns.
纽约州立大学科特兰分校枪支管制问题专家罗伯特·斯皮策（Robert Spitzer）表示，美国之外的很多人都难以理解为什么估计有一亿美国人拥有枪支。

He explained: "They (guns) represent a feeling of American individualism, the idea that Americans don't want to rely on others for self-protection, such as police or government," he said.
他解释说，“枪支代表着美国个人主义的感受，代表着美国人不希望依靠警察或政府等他人保护自己的想法。”

There are more guns in America than other countries.
美国的枪支比其它国家都要多。

The last major study, done in 2007 by the Small Arms Survey, said the United States has 88.8 guns for every 100 people, more than No. 2 Yemen, which had 54.9 per 100 residents, and No. 3 Switzerland, with 45.7 guns per 100 people.
Small Arms Survey于2007年进行的最后一项主要研究声称美国每100人拥有88.8支枪支，超过排名第二、每百位居民拥有54.9支枪支的也门，以及排名第三、每100人拥有45.7支枪支的瑞士。

The question of how Americans feel about gun control is complex, with both sides even disagreeing over how much regulation is permitted by the U.S. Constitution.
美国人如何看待枪支这个问题非常复杂，双方对有多少规章制度获得美国宪法许可也有着不同看法。

The Pew Research Center, for example, found in 2015 that large percentages of both Democrats and Republicans favor requiring people buying guns to complete a background check. But it said many conservatives fear such legislation would lead to the taking away of peoples' guns.
例如，皮尤研究中心在2015年发现，大比例的民主党人和共和党人都赞成要求购买枪支的人士完成一项背景调查。但是该研究中心表示，许多保守派人士担心这类立法将会导致人们的枪支被夺走。

A background check looks at whether someone has done something in the past – such as a violent act – or has mental health problems that would make gun ownership risky.
背景调查着眼于某人过去是否存在暴力行为之类或者存在心理健康问题，这些都会让持枪有风险。

Currently, people buying guns from private owners can avoid a background check in most U.S. states. That is the "loophole," or exception, that Obama and others want to end.
目前在美国大部分州，人们从私人手里购买枪支就可以避免背景调查。这是奥巴马等人希望消除的漏洞。

Gun control is a campaign issue
枪支管制是一个竞选议题

The issue of whether to limit gun purchases has become an issue in the presidential race between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton.
是否限制购买枪支已经成为了共和党人唐纳德·川普（Donald Trump）和民主党人希拉里·克林顿（Hillary Clinton）总统竞选中的一个议题。

On Monday, Clinton called for several steps. Among them: a ban on the sale of military-style weapons, better background checks and a ban on gun purchases by people on "no fly" lists because of concerns about their support of terrorism.
克林顿于周一呼吁采取几个步骤，其中包括禁止销售军事化武器，更好的背景调查，以及禁止那些由于担心他们支持恐怖主义而登上禁飞名单上的人士购买枪支。

"If you're too dangerous to get on a plane, you are too dangerous to buy a gun in America," Clinton said.
克林顿表示，“如果你登上飞机过于危险，那么在美国购买枪支也过于危险。”

Trump said he favored blocking people from countries with large numbers of terrorists from coming to the United States, but no new gun laws.
川普表示，他赞成禁止那些来自于拥有大量恐怖分子的国家的人士来到美国，但是不支持新的枪支法。

"They tried that in France which has among the toughest gun laws anywhere in the world, and 130 people were brutally murdered by Islamic terrorists in cold blood," Trump said. He was talking about the November attacks on a concert hall, restaurants and a sports stadium in Paris.
川普表示，“他们在全球枪支法最为严格的国家之一法国进行了尝试，有130人被冷血的伊斯兰恐怖分子残忍杀害。”他说的是去年11月巴黎的一家音乐厅、多家餐馆以及一家体育馆遭到的袭击。