Gun Control: Why Taking Guns Away Won't Work

Many people and organizations share the idea that the best gun control policy to help reduce gun related crime and accidents is to eliminate gun ownership rights all together. Talk of this idea increased among gun enthusiasts and opponents alike with the election of President Obama. Proponents of gun eradication hope new gun banning laws will come with the new President and opponents fear the possibility of losing their rights to gun ownership. This became evident as sales of firearms and ammunition increased dramatically in the months following the election. This shows that there are a lot of people in the United States who -like me- do not want to let go of their right to bear arms.

The supporters of gun eradication feel this is the best policy for stopping gun related crimes because it will keep guns out of everyone's hands, including criminals. I completely disagree. There are several problems with this idea. First, criminals always find a way to get what they want. Drugs such as cocaine and heroin have been outlawed for decades and it hasn't stopped criminals from getting a hold of them. Guns would be no different. The gun laws in effect today prevent felons from purchasing a firearm but countless felons still have them. They steal guns or buy them on the black market, much like drugs. Crimes have even been committed using stolen military issue weaponry. So outlawing guns all together will not keep the criminals with their minds set on acquiring a gun from doing so.

The other problem with a policy that outlaws guns is that it would take away the ability of law abiding citizens to protect themselves and their families. I keep a gun in my home to protect myself and my family, as do many other families in the United States. By losing my right to own a gun I would be losing my family's best line of defense against an intruder. Some would argue that it is the job of the police to protect us from criminals and not up to us to arm ourselves in defense. But the police aren't everywhere at all times. Having a gun in your home could mean the difference between the police responding to an attempted burglary or investigating a home invasion and/or homicide of you or your loved ones. Don't get me wrong, I wish I didn't need a firearm to protect my family and I hope I never have to use it. If nobody else had guns I wouldn't either. But as I said earlier the criminals will always find a way to get firearms, legal or not. So by taking away everyone's right to own guns it would really only keep them out of the hands of law abiding citizens. This would just make it easier for criminals to victimize innocent people.

The other main argument made for the outlawing of guns is the elimination of gun related accidents. There are many accidental deaths and injuries from guns in this country every year. Eliminating guns to solve this problem is a drastic solution though. People are injured and killed in automobiles every day but we don't outlaw cars. The auto manufacturers implement new safety features and laws are passed to promote safer driving. This is because it's not the cars themselves killing people, it's the people operating them improperly that cause the accidents. The same is true with firearms. A more realistic solution to firearm accidents is safety features on the guns and education on safe operation. Gun manufacturers have already been adding safety features to firearms for years and new innovations in safety features hit the market all the time. That combined with increased public education on safe firearm handling and operation would make a suitable alternative to eliminating guns completely in an effort to decrease gun accidents.

While I understand that gun crimes and accidents are a major problem in this country and agree that something needs to be done, I don't think taking away our right to gun ownership will solve anything. I think we are on the right track today with the laws limiting who can purchase and own firearms. The best thing the government could do is review these laws and refine them to limit, as much as possible, the criminal element from acquiring firearms and increase penalties for those who break gun laws without taking away the gun rights of the law abiding citizen. The best thing we as citizens could do is continue to educate ourselves and others on gun safety to help prevent accidents as well as educate ourselves on firearm defense so that we can effectively use our gun ownership rights to help prevent the misuse of firearms. After all, guns don't kill people by themselves; It takes a person to pull the trigger.