Gun Control Cons Essay free essay sample

Worse For Us Than We Know Almost everyone living in this country should have witnessed such debates. Some people might not have listened to a formal debate, but an informal gun control debate is being carried on by many groups and individuals. It is very unlikely that someone has not listened to one. Recall the occasions when you were traveling or waiting somewhere hearing the neighbors discussing gun control pros and cons. These conversations are also gun control debates in the wider sense of the term. After all, a debate does not have to be a formal one. The question where the gun control debate is heading to come from the fact that there have been innumerable rounds of this debate, but no conclusion seems to have been reached. Gun control facts show what has been happening around us. Therefore, gun control although it sounds like a good idea at first, in the long run, it is much worse for the country. First off, criminals will always find a way to get guns if they are restricted or if they are not. Gun crime statistics show that guns are used in about 60 percent of the homicide crimes, but how do the people react to these kinds of gun death statistics Also, â€Å"nations with stringent gun control have substantially higher death rates†(Harvard). If people are going to accept these facts passively, then gun control debates will end up only as an academic exercise. Gun crime statistics should make us sit up and evaluate the gun control pros and cons. Does the fact that guns are increasingly being used for committing murders not contradict the argument of the pro -gun lobbies that guns are for protection? Criminals will do anything, even kill, for their guns† (Harvard). In this case the crime rate will skyrocket due to the criminals killing for their guns. Another shocking detail is that the number of suicides is higher in regions that have a lower number of gun owning people. So, gun ownership can be a way to deter the suicides. On the other hand, most of the crimes in the United States are deterred by the use of the gun. Other countries use the experience of the US that has implemented strict gun control laws. They have also stated â€Å"a crime victim that has a gun is way better off than one that does not have one† (Balanced). The victim in a sense will not become a victim if they have a gun. Also, â€Å"the criminal is more likely to use a gun when they see the other person doesn’t have a gun† (Balanced). Next off, the NRA (National Rifles Association) has made no secret of its stand of not compromising on its opposition to gun control. The NRA seems to be acting like a lobby, not like a club. They agree that the second amendment gave us the rights as citizens to bear arms so the people should be allowed too. Also, â€Å"The second amendment protects the individual’s right to gun ownership† (Rosen). It seems that there has been an overdose of gun crime statistics. People have been exposed to these kinds of statistics in gun control debates that have been going on for a long time with both the sides sticking to their guns. In a source it states that â€Å"as long as people are using guns for protection then all should be well in letting all carry on† (Rosen). So, it appears that people have to look beyond gun crime statistics and look at gun control facts from a slightly different perspective. One reason for this approach is that the pro- gun lobby does not seem to be moved by gun death statistics and keeps on advocating its opposition to any form of gun control. Another reason, is that gun crime statistics have been heard so often that there is no need to repeat them. Instead of quoting figures people should think of what the consequences will be if guns are banned. The US will have to deal with things such as the black market rather than gun control. When they control the guns the criminals will just go to the black market to get their guns. In turn, â€Å"the black market for guns will be very prevalent so this will cause more crime† (ProsCons). The information people get from countries that have gone ahead with making gun control laws have a way higher gun crime and the black market is more prevalent. The statement â€Å"Crime rates will skyrocket if guns are banned because the criminals will do anything to get guns† (ProsCons) is very true in this sense. The gun crime statistics from these countries reveal that after these laws have come into force, there has been a steep increase not only in the number of murders but also in the number of suicides. So, how do the pro -gun control groups react to these reports? Unfortunately, they have not been impressed by these facts. Their attitude to gun crime statistics has always been lukewarm. Since the facts are not on their side, they employ other means. The NRA (National rifles Association), for example, has made no secret of its decision to not accept any compromise on the issue of gun control. It has been threatening legislators that it will work for their defeat in the primaries, if they do not toe the line of the NRA. The threat seems to be working, with some legislators making attempts to change the rules in such a way that organizations like the CDC will not be able to study gun violence. One remarkable thing about the gun control debate is that though this debate has been carried on for the past few decades ever since gun control became a serious issue after President Kennedy was gunned down by an assassin, it has been able to sustain the interest of the people. People have listened to many gun control pros and cons but somehow, people engaging in the gun control debate have been successful in keeping the debate lively and engrossing. The debate itself has been kept alive because of our failure to bring in a strong gun control regime in spite of going over a volley of gun control facts again and again. One reason for the gun control debate remaining lively is the emergence of new gun crime facts. With the gun crime continuing to take its toll at several places, gun death statistics are getting updated. The updated statistics can be effectively used in a gun control debate to make the debate contemporary and interesting. The protagonists of gun control should also bring to light the fact that the children and women living in houses where guns are present are under a lesser risk of becoming victims of gun crime. If people see this with the fact that countries that have introduced strong gun control laws have reported a drop in the number of murders and suicides, people can understand the connection between unrestrained gun ownership and the incidence of crime. An argument often heard in a gun control debate about the 2nd amendment giving people the right to own guns ignores the fact that 99 percent of this law was written by people with no legal background. The U. S. Congress is still debating the effectiveness of federal regulation of guns and ammunition. All sorts of federal laws have been made since 1934 to promote the regulation of firearms. Many people have different views on the topic of gun control. Many believe that there are many disadvantages to the controlling of guns. When people think of guns, all they think about is the school shootings that have occurred over the past decade or two. Those events are just unfortunate, but in reality those kids who killed all those people did not purchase the gun, they stole it. The debates against gun control are stronger than the debate for it. The reasonable solution would be to eliminate the talk about guns altogether, but people know that will never happen. Opposition to federal controls is very strong. People opposing gun control say that federal policies dont keep firearms out of the hands of high-risk persons; rather, it often creates barriers for law-abiding citizens and violates a citizens constitutional right provided by the Second Amendment. Many say, and I agree that widespread gun ownership is one of the best deterrents to crime. Guns are used 2. 5 million times a year in self-defense. Law-abiding citizens use guns to defend themselves against criminals as many as 2. 5 million times every year or about 6,850 times a day. â€Å"Having these guns will make the citizens feel safer in protection against criminals† (Lott). This means that each year, firearms are used more than 80 times more often to protect the lives of honest citizens than to take lives. This gives people a good perspective on how guns are not just bad. People never hear the good facts, only the bad. There are a lot of gun control statistics in the world and not everyone can agree on gun control pros and cons. For many people involved in the debate, the pros and cons of gun control are affected by their political opinion on the subject. And this, in turn, is often determined by the background that they come from. On both sides of the gun control debate, people will naturally deviate toward the gun control statistics that best represent their point of view and suggest that it demonstrates that they were right all along. Someone once said, â€Å"Facts are stubborn things, but statistics are more pliable† (Lott). Gun control statistics are a complicated factor. They are almost always relevant to public policy in one way or another. In fact, the very concept of statistics, or the very root of the word, is related to public policy. In conclusion, gun control statistics can go a long way toward helping people who want to learn the ins and outs of the issue, but it is very difficult for anyone who has no subjective opinion on the issue of gun control to develop an opinion on the issue. The reason is because few people will present the statistics that contradict their views on the subject. For this reason, to decide where they stand on the issue, people first have to develop a sort of framework that they can use to determine what they believe is right and what they believe is wrong. Concluding that, gun control, although it sounds like a good idea at first, in the long run, it is worse for the country.