Gun Control Is Not The Answer

Gun Control Is Not the Answer

When the word Columbine is mentioned, horrific images of murder come to mind. These images create emotional disquiet. They should. However, these emotions should not alter a person's logical though process. People who make decisions based on objective facts can become, at times, emotionally motivated to make hasty judgements. This has happened in America when it comes to the issue of gun control and the Second Amendment.

Anti-gun legislation infringes on Americans' Constitutional right to bear arms. There is no evidence that gun control legislation has reduced violent crimes. In fact, it may promote crime by producing helpless unarmed victims. On the other hand, occurrences such as the Columbine shootings prove that there is an obvious problem with guns, and action needs to be taken. Legislation, however, is not the answer. Education of minors, and exposure to guns, believe it or not, is a real solution to this problem. When a person has respect for weapons, he or she will not misuse them. It makes no sense to disrobe law-abiding citizens of their right to self-defense because of the irrational actions of delinquents.

It is important to reiterate the Second Amendment of our Constitution. It states, "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." The word "militia" refers not only to the state National Guard units, but also to private citizens, as it is the responsibility of citizens to prevent a federal army from conducting a coup by force. Forming a militia does this. When the Constitution was being considered for ratification, Madison wrote Federalist Paper number forty-six. It explained that by giving citizens a right to bear arms, they would be able to regain control of their country, should the new federal government try to rule oppressively through its military power.

Gun control has had negative consequences throughout history, especially in Nazi Germany, for example. The German firearms ban instituted in 1928 by the Weimar Republic was designed to prevent violent factions (like the Nazis) from taking power. It ultimately prevented citizens from taking arms to overthrow the totalitarian government in the 1930s and 40s. Hitler, who saw the value of gun control and used it to keep order in conquered lands, said, "The most foolish mistake we could possibly make would be to permit the conquered eastern peoples to have arms. History teaches that all conquerors who have allowed their subject races to carry arms have prepared their own downfall by doing so."

Gun control programs implemented in the past have failed to deter violent crime. In 1996, Dr. John Lott from the University of Chicago Law School published the results of a study that analyzed FBI crime date from every county in the United States. He studied data from 1977 to 1992. Over 11% of gun owners have successfully used their weapon to prevent a crime. In the duration of one year, Americans have employed firearms to defend themselves from criminals about 760,000 times! This does not mean that criminals are being killed at record numbers. Only 1 criminal out of 1000 has been killed, and 1 criminal out of 100 has been wounded by gun owning 'victims'. Between 1976 and 1991, Washington D.C. passed a handgun ban. Their homicide rate rose by 200%, while the nation's average only rose by 12%. Ten states adopted right to carry laws between 1977 and 1992. These states experienced no change in the suicide rate, .5% increase in accidental gun deaths, a 5% decline in cases of rape, a 7% decrease in armed assaults, and 8% less murders. As of 1998, nationwide, there has been no occurrence of licensed gun owners shooting police officers. There are, however, reported cases of licensed firearm owners saving a police officer's life. According to the study, states with conceal and carry laws saw an 84% decrease in public shootings with multiple victims such as school shootings. Firearm accidents compose only 1.5 % of accident related deaths per year. Choking on food kills twice as many people annually.

The most popular pieces of gun control legislation are the Brady Bill of 1994 and the Assault Weapons Ban of 1994. The Brady Bill instituted a five-business day wait period to purchase a gun, as well as a background check. The wait period has mixed results. It has successfully prevented distempered individuals