A Closer Look at a Few Arguments for Gun Control

Ban Assault Rifles?

Well, this argument needs a bit of explanation. I’ve personally been told that “no one one should be able to walk down the street with an AK-47,” or even “no one should have automatic weapons.”

Not only is that highly unlikely, it’s highly illegal.

Automatic weapons have been heavily regulated, and virtually unobtainable for the average citizen since 1934. Was an automatic used in Parkland? No. Las Vegas? No. Sandy Hook? No. Aurora? No. These all used some variation of a Semi-Automatic firearm. Then, perhaps, the conversation may shift to banning semi-automatic weapons. If someone were to propose this, this would also ban almost all pistols, almost all hunting rifles, and even variants of shotguns.

Although it’s been thrown around in the media all the time, the term “assault rifle” is an undefined term. Even the 1994 Assault Rifle Ban had trouble defining what would become illegal. Since the term was created by the government, and not gun companies, there were few standards that made a certain gun into an “assault rifle.” Recently, due to the horrific tragedy in Parkland, Florida, the AR-15 is again in the spotlight. Many opponents of my position have argued for the ban of the AR-15 and have accused supporters of my cause of “having blood on our hands.” Because I do not support the ban of the AR-15 and similar weapons, it does not mean I’m not sympathetic or that I have blood on my hands; it’s simply because I have seen no substantial evidence that will solve the problem.

Although the ban expired in 2004, there was no correlation between the drop in gun violence and the ban. According to a study from the University of Pennsylvania, "We cannot clearly credit the ban with any of the nation’s recent drop in gun violence. And, indeed, there has been no discernible reduction in the lethality and injuriousness of gun violence." One reason this conclusion was reached was because “assault weapons” are rarely used during gun crimes. This is a common misconception within the gun control debate. “[Assault weapons] were used in only a small fraction of gun crimes prior to the ban: about 2% according to most studies and no more than 8%,” says the UPenn Study. An AR-15 is simply not the “weapon of choice” for these murderers. According to the FBI’s 2016 crime statistics, handguns were used in 19 times as many murders than rifles were handguns also killed nine times as many as rifles and shotguns combined.

All of this evidence boils down to the fact that laws do not stop criminals. Psychopaths will get ahold of what they want in order to commit the carnage they desire. This is backed up by a study from the University of Pittsburgh. According to their analysis, lawful gun owners commit less than a fifth of all gun crimes. “They found that in approximately 8 out of 10 cases, the perpetrator was not a lawful gun owner but rather in illegal possession of a weapon that belonged to someone else” (Ingraham).

Another argument is that we need background checks. The only issue with that one is - We already do.

“We have had a massive regulatory system in place for decades, and it has failed to keep guns out of the hands of criminals. No one can walk into a gun store, hand over money and immediately walk out with a firearm. Only those approved by existing laws governing firearms can purchase guns. They must be of a certain minimum age — 18 for rifles and shotguns, 21 for handguns — and provide a valid driver’s license. If it’s expired, suspended or revoked, or the intended purchaser moved and failed to update the address on their license, the person cannot buy a gun,” (Swickward).

Gun Violence is on the Rise

According to multiple studies, including from the Bureau of Justice , "Firearm-related homicides dropped from 18,253 homicides in 1993 to 11,101 in 2011 . . . and nonfatal firearm crimes dropped from 1.5 million victimizations in 1993 to 467,300 in 2011.” This is an enlightening revelation; the rate of U.S. gun violence has steadily decreased since 1993. Even with the numbers listed above: “Of the 175,703 firearm deaths in the US from 2012 to 2016, 108,183 (or 62 percent) were suicides.” This bit of information is always left out of the conversation. When someone brings the amount of gun-related deaths in America, be sure to point out the fact that homicides only make up about 36%.

No need for the Second Amendment

Among the Pro-Gun Control crowd, many believe the Second Amendment should be “modernized,” or even abolished. This would be a devastating move that could potentially procure more violence without the possibility of defense.

In a report from the Centers for Disease Control, they examined the need for self-defense.

“Studies that directly assessed the effect of actual defensive uses of guns (i.e., incidents in which a gun was ‘used’ by the crime victim in the sense of attacking or threatening an offender) have found consistently lower injury rates among gun-using crime victims compared with victims who used other self-protective strategies,” the CDC study claimed. “Self-defense can be an important crime deterrent.”

The study also expressed uncertainty regarding gun control as a whole. “Whether gun restrictions reduce firearm-related violence is an unresolved issue,” and it claims that there's no evidence “that passage of right-to-carry laws decrease or increase violence crime.” It also stated, “gun turn-in programs are ineffective.”

My Verdict

I believe this issue is a complex one because it’s such an emotional topic. The latest response from the Parkland shooting is a knee-jerk reaction to the horror that took place February 14, 2018. Why blame the NRA, the largest organization that promotes safe and responsible gun use in America? Why not blame the Broward County Police Department or even the FBI who failed to investigate dozens of tips on the shooter? Or even an armed police officer who refused to enter the school and attempt to stop the shooter? This shooting should have never taken place.

In my opinion, in order to truly keep children safe, punishing responsible and safe gun owners is not the solution. Let’s raise money to install metal detectors in every entrance of MHS. Let’s make it mandatory for students to carry clear backpacks, or even none at all. Now, I don’t believe that arming teachers is a solution, but adding more armed police officers to our school would not be a bad idea. It worked in the most recent school shooting at Great Mills High School in Maryland. An armed officer stopped a shooter, limiting the damage to one death and one injured. Of course, this one death is one too many, but think of the devastation that could have taken place if that officer had not been present. The measures presented by the pro-gun control group, in most cases, statistically don’t work. I fear for the future if these knee-jerk measures take place.

In a perfect world, guns don’t exist. But unfortunately, evil is present in all societies. So, let’s work together to find a real, tangible solution to ensure the safety of all Americans - especially at school.

Works Cited

Image: https://www.irishcentral.com/opinion/cahirodoherty/does-the-usa-want-to-live-in-fear-gun-control-action-needed-immediately

Plumer, Brad. “Everything You Need to Know about the Assault Weapons Ban, in One Post.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 17 Dec. 2012, www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2012/12/17/everything-you-need-to-know-about-banning-assault-weapons-in-one-post/?utm_term=.394135d89952.

KaminskiLeduc, Janet L. WEAPONS USED IN MASS SHOOTINGS, www.cga.ct.gov/2013/rpt/2013-R-0057.htm.

“FACT CHECK: Are Most Gun Crimes Committed With Handguns? |.” Daily Caller News Foundation, dailycallernewsfoundation.org/2018/02/20/fact-check-are-most-gun-crimes-committed-with-handguns/.

Ingraham, Christopher. “New Evidence Confirms What Gun Rights Advocates Have Said for a Long Time about Crime.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 27 July 2016, www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/07/27/new-evidence-confirms-what-gun-rights-advocates-have-been-saying-for-a-long-time-about-crime/?utm_term=.74e0cff4884a.

Caplan, Jeffrey. “The CDC's Latest Report on Firearms Might Not Make Many Gun Control Activists Happy.” Rare, Rare, 6 Jan. 2017, rare.us/rare-politics/issues/guns-rare-politics/the-cdcs-latest-report-on-firearms-might-not-make-many-gun-control-activists-happy/.

Sanger-katz, Margot. “Gun Deaths Are Mostly Suicides.” The New York Times, The New York

Times, 8 Oct. 2015, www.nytimes.com/2015/10/09/upshot/gun-deaths-are-mostly-suicides.html.

Ehrenfreund, Max. “We've Had a Massive Decline in Gun Violence in the United States. Here's Why.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 3 Dec. 2015, www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/12/03/weve-had-a-massive-decline-in-gun-violence-in-the-united-states-heres-why/?utm_term=.6ed8205548ee.

Bureau of Justice Statistics. “Firearm Violence, 1993�2011 from the Bureau of Justice Statistics.” Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), www.bjs.gov/content/pub/press/fv9311pr.cfm.

Swickard, Larry. “We Already Have Gun Laws. They Don't Stop Crime.” Kansascity, The Kansas City Star, www.kansascity.com/opinion/readers-opinion/guest-commentary/article179841381.html.

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