Gun Control: Why It Makes Sense

by WashDCDemocrat

Did you guys miss me? I know I've already posted an article on this, but after the Florida School Board Shooting and other recent events, I thought this issue needed revisiting and that critics needed to be refuted.

Argument: Allowing more people to own weapons gives them better protection against violent crime. When assaulted, a person has more of an ability to respond.

While it's true that the wide availability of firearms allows more people to own weapons, it also allows more weapons to go into the hands of people with ill intent. The Department of Justice reported that, in 1993, 29% of victims of violent crimes faced an offender with a firearm. In addition, "most of the guns used in crimes originated as legally sold items" (Steve Steel of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms office in Dallas, qtd. in the Houston Chronicle 1997).

Argument: Controlling weapons does nothing to counter the illegal guns that criminals can acquire. Outlawing guns means that only outlaws will have guns.

Common sense ought to tell us that if fewer people are buying guns (as fewer people would with gun control), output of guns would go down, and prices would go up. If that is the case, the number of illegal guns ought to remain the same. A recent incident in France, where several school children were held hostage by a sword-weilding youth, drew the normal snide remarks of "enstate a sword ban!" The fact is, however, without strict gun laws, the story could've just as easily been one of a youth weilding two handguns rather than two swords.

Argument: Criminalizing or controlling guns is the action of a government fearful of its people. It is the first step towards ensuring that civil liberties can be violated without any response of the citizens.

The fact is, the government does fear its citizens - but not in the sence that there will be a revolution. The fear is that a person may follow the path of the Florida School Board shooter, using a legal gun to commit illegal acts and put innocent lives at risk, which is a valid fear. What isn't valid is hyper-paranoia of government actions impeding on ordinary life. As people, we have to understand that our drunk neighbor toting a shotgun is a much (if not more) of a threat than a nameless, faceless FBI agent.

I don't, by any means, support an outright ban on gun ownership (though that would solve a number of problems I outlined above) simply because of the difficulty involved in enacting such a policy. However, nothing stops us from maintaining and enforcing current gun control laws - a responsibility that we owe to our communities and our fellow citizens.