Gun Control Essay Example

Many believe that guns are the root of all the violence happening in today's world. Furthermore, believing there should be tighter control on who can possess a gun, what types of guns should be allowed, and how gun owners can use their guns. Americans are protected by the second amendment to keep and bear arms, but if more laws are made for gun control this will put restrictions on those rights. But will these gun control laws magically change everything? Will gun violence magically disappear? No, gun control will have no impact on decreasing gun-related violence.  

There have been many events in America's history that have started to generate the idea that gun control is the answer to all gun-related violence. Some events are as stated, Colin Ferguson went on a “shooting rampage” killing six people in Long Island New York in 1993. Columbine high school, in 1999 two students opened fire at a Colorado high school killing 12 peers and injuring over 20. These are just two examples of the many terrible mass shootings that have happened in America. Not to mention the millions of crimes conducted daily involving firearms. Although these are horrendous events, would extended gun control laws have helped in these situations? Within this essay, I will dive deeper into why I don’t believe extended gun control laws will help decrease gun-related violence.  

The biggest idea of gun control is that there need to be laws on who can own a firearm in the first place. That dangerous people and/or criminals should not be allowed to handle a firearm. While I think everyone believes that. The gun-control movement wants to take further steps to enforce that. Gun control activists think it will be as easy as telling someone that they are not allowed to obtain a firearm so they will automatically listen. One problem with this is, dangerous individuals and/or criminals are not going to abide by the new gun laws even if they are put in place. If an individual is trying to obtain a firearm with the intent to use it unlawfully, then they are not going to abide by the laws to first obtain that firearm. A criminal by definition is someone who breaks the law.  Trying to add more laws on how to obtain a firearm would only be useful for individuals who already abide by the law. The problem with that is law abiders are not the ones who are causing these guns related violence. The United States doesn't need to worry about those individuals.  

Another factor that is being considered as a way to make obtaining a firearm more difficult is, background checks. The idea of a background check seems smart on the basic level. In the long run, it won't be effective. Gun control activists think that everyone should have to complete a background check before they can obtain a firearm. The idea of a background check is that if an individual goes into a store to buy a firearm and there is a red flag on their sheet, then they won't be able to buy that firearm. That seems like a great idea, right? Well, what if someone lies on their background check? What if there is someone who hasn't committed any crimes before but is buying a gun with the intent to perform their first crime? What if there is an individual with mental illnesses that have never been seen by a doctor? These scenarios would make these individuals look like a good candidates to obtain a firearm when in reality they shouldn't be able to buy one. They would have no “red flags” pop up when they go to buy a firearm. Therefore, background checks are also not successful at decreasing the likelihood of gun-related crimes.  

Even if creating certain laws and background checks to help regulate who can obtain a firearm worked, it would only work if everyone was buying their guns from stores. Often, firearms land in the hands of an individual with unlawful intentions through different ways. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, “An estimated 287,400 prisoners had possessed a firearm during their offense. Among these, more than half (56%) had either stolen it (6%), found it at the scene of the crime (7%), or obtained it off the street or from the underground market (43%). Most of the remainder (25%) had obtained it from a family member or friend, or as a gift.” (Alper & Glaze, 2019, p. [Page 1]). Showing that these individuals who are causing an increase in gun-related violence won't even be affected by gun control laws. These individuals have their own ways of obtaining a firearm. Even if laws were put in place for every store that sold firearms, criminals would still have a way to get their hands on a weapon.  

Gun control activists are so focused on the idea that the only way to reduce gun-related violence is by taking away and making it harder to obtain firearms. What about the law-abiding Individuals who carry guns safely, why should they have to go through more laws and restrictions?  A national poll shows, that people use guns defensively against criminal attacks around 1.5 to 3.5 million times per year. This poll shows that by making it so it easier for law-abiding individuals to obtain and carry a firearm could actually decrease gun-related violence.  Another study stated that individuals who carry concealed handguns, “reduce murder rates by about 1.5 percent for each additional year a law had been in effect, with similar declines in other violent crimes.” (Lott et al., 2002, p. [Page 1]). These statistics help prove that restricting who can obtain a firearm, how one can use a firearm, etc. will not decrease gun-related violence. Instead, not having those restrictions in place allows law abiders to actually help decrease those scenarios. These good citizens can not only protect themselves and others before law enforcement is able to get to the scene. Guns prevent around 2.5 million crimes a year, most commonly the guns are used as a scare tactic rather than actually fired. It is stated that 60 percent of convicted criminals stated that they have avoided committing crimes when they knew the victim was armed.  and not only when the criminals knew the victim was armed, but it is also stated that 40 percent of criminals have stated they have avoided commenting a crime if they even though the victim was armed. (Reed, n.d.). These statistics prove that allowing citizens to own guns can help protect against dangerous criminals from committing gun-related crimes.  

If gun control isn't the answer, then what is? If America wants to decrease the number of gun-related violence, then they should focus more on crime control rather than gun control. Crime control by definition is when a state, “emphasizes the standardized, expeditious processing of defendants through the court system and the uniform punishment of offenders according to the severity of their crimes.” (Rich, n.d., p. [Para 1]) Crime control should be emplaced to enforce existing gun laws and enforce long severe punishment toward criminals who have carried firearms illegally. Project excil is a good example of the effectiveness of crime control. “Project Exile is based on the principle that, if police catch a criminal in Richmond with a gun, the criminal has forfeited his or her right to remain in the community and, as such, will face immediate Federal prosecution and stiff mandatory Federal prison sentences.” (Project Exile, n.d., p. [Page 1]). During the 1990s, Richmond Virginia homicide rate was at an all-time high. Virginia started implementing new “Federal, State, and local law enforcement initiatives to address violent crime in Richmond. Project Exile focuses on previously convicted felonies carrying firearms and armed persons involved in drug or violent crimes.” (Project Exile, n.d., p. [Page 1]). Just one year after Richmond enforced the excil project their firearm homicides went down by 41 percent. If the whole United States focused more on the criminals who are more likely to commit these guns related crimes, then the rate would decrease. Instead of trying to enforce laws and barriers that won't have any effect on the criminals, there should be more focus on stopping criminals before they get too far. It is not the guns that we need to focus on it’s the criminals themselves.  

The violence that is a common occurrence in America is a serious problem. There are millions of deaths each year due to gun-related violence, so it is easy to blame guns. Rather than focusing on the guns, you should bring your attention to the individuals responsible for the violence instead. Adding new laws and trying to restrict who can have access to firearms will only be affecting law abiding citizens. When that shouldn’t be the focus. A more effective way of reducing gun violence is through crime control, rather than increasing gun control.