Gun laws are ineffective
After a mass shooting occurs in the United States, many Americans are quick to demand that the government increases restrictions on firearms. This advice would be entirely counterproductive and do little to actually reduce these crimes, while infringing on the rights of the people.
When gun control is discussed, it is commonly presented as an increase in the restrictions on firearm purchases. According to the Constitution, however, this cannot happen. The Second Amendment states that citizens of the U.S. have an undeniable right to “keep and bear arms.” By increasing restrictions on purchasing guns, the government would be infringing on the people’s rights. The founding fathers recognized the fact that people need to be able to defend themselves, and that right should not be violated.
For the 42 percent of Americans who choose to exercise their Second Amendment rights, the most common reason for ownership is the sense of security a gun provides. According to a Pew Research study from earlier this year, 67 percent of gun owners cite protection as their reason for ownership. This could be protection from attackers or thieves, or in more rural areas, from wild animals. Taking away the defensive power a gun provides would be detrimental to the safety and security that Americans are entitled to.
In addition to defending themselves, gun owners are able to use their firearms to save the lives of other innocent people. In 2007, Jeanne Assam, a security officer working at the New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado, shot and wounded an attacker who had entered the church. She was successful in stopping the attacker, an action for which she was praised as a hero. Without her gun, any number of innocent people could have been killed. This and other similar examples show the side of guns that many fail to recognize — their use as life saving tools.
The overarching problem with increased gun control laws is that they are ineffective, and expanding them can prevent those who use guns for defense and safety from getting them. Current laws do little to stop criminals from purchasing firearms, and any new laws will be similarly ineffective. Someone who legally purchases a gun now could go on to commit a mass shooting with it later. Gun sellers will never be able to predict the future, and they have no way of knowing what someone will do after they have met the requirements for ownership. If the country were to just restrict everybody from purchasing guns to attempt keep them away from criminals, it would keep them out of the hands of people like Jeanne Assam who use them to save lives.
Although keeping guns away from criminals is inherently a good idea, it is also entirely unrealistic in the world we live in. Criminals will always find a way to get a weapon if they are set on committing a crime. Attempting to use gun control laws to prevent criminals from acquiring weapons would result only in fewer options for those who use guns for protection.
Overall, the ineffectiveness and counterproductivity of gun laws prevent them from being a feasible option for our country.
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