Bryanna Adams

Vicki Stalbird

English 1201

24 March 2019

Gun Control not Crime Control

For many years, gun control has always been a heated topic especially in the U.S. After

all, there has been many massive shootings that can result in this debate. Especially, during the

last 3-5 years. There has been a shooting in a school, workplaces, churches, etc. every time we

turn around. Should we get rid of guns altogether? Or should we just make gun laws stricter?

There are many questions we all have, and many opinions we have about this certain topic. In

reality, we just want to live in a world that is safe, with no tragedies and live in happiness. Yet,

even though we would all love that, it is impossible. If we got rid of guns altogether, it would

fight against the 2nd amendment in the U.S constitution. Which is, the right to bear arms.

However, if we don’t act on this issue, there will continue to be more massive shootings and just

not across the United States. Though this is why Gun Control should not be legalized because it

would become worst in crime rates, it can be an advantage for the country, and why the gun

control movement fails altogether because it is seen as crime control instead of gun control.

Gun Control is the laws that forbid gun ownership and the manufacture of guns to be

sold. Is the answer to massive shootings to legalize this law and no shootings or crimes happen?

According to John R. Lott, Jr., PhD said, "States with the largest increases in gun ownership also

have the largest drops in violent crimes. The effect on 'shall-issue' gun laws on these crimes has

been dramatic. When states passed these laws, the number of multiple-victim shootings declined

by 84 percent. Deaths from these shootings plummeted on average by 90 percent and injuries by
82 percent." (Lott) Why do we instantly think if someone ones a gun, they’re going to cause a

crime? A journalist John Stossel says that criminals that want to commit a crime will commit

them. For example, if guns were to be outlawed, the outlaws would find ways to get ahold of a

gun (Stossel) .

The legalization of Gun Control would just become worse in crime rates, and more

shootings across the United States. According to an article on CNN by L.Z Granderson called

“Gun Control is not the answer.” The author talks about how in Chicago that gun shops are

illegal. Yet, in the city they are affected by gunshot wounds, or even death in the streets each

week. It also talks about how more people have died from gun violence here from home than the

nine years of war fighting in Iraq. The individuals that are committing mass shootings are

coming from both legalized people who can carry a gun, and ones who are not. So even though

they are not allowed ownership of carrying a gun, they still find ways to commit that crime or

even carry a gun (Granderson). According to John Stossel in an article from ABC News called,

“Gun Control isn’t crime control.” He talks about instead of gun control legalization, if we just

invested into stricter gun law and if that would help. He also gives the information that If a

criminal is going to commit a crime, it doesn't matter if we have strict gun laws or not. They will

commit a crime regardless. So, if the gun laws were stricter it gives them another reason to

commit the crime and find a way to come out on top. In that statement, there could be a bit of a

disagreement among others. Such as, if the stricter gun laws were to be that it be harder to be

able to own a gun, or where background checks are legal for all 50 states to purchase a gun sale

instead of eleven states. In 1997, there was a shooting in the United Kingdom in England that

killed around 16 children. The effect of that crime, England created stricter gun laws for the

country. England’s laws for gun control since then has been one of the strictest gun laws in the
world. The law is preventing almost all citizens of having the right to own a firearm. Even

though this law was set, there was no decrease of gun-related crimes in the U.K at all. The

crimes have actually doubled in England since the ban was established. It is a topic that is very

controversial, could it help? Or could it not? The stricter the gun laws seem to become, the more

the crime rates will increase.

When people think of guns, they think of them as killing machines. Such as for humans.

Liberals believe and support that human lives are valuable and killing humans is wrong. Which

is also true but they also believe that guns kill humans so we should limit the access of the use of

guns completely. Every time a mass shooting occurs it seems like another opportunity for

Liberals to fight against gun control. According to an article by Dustin Murphy called, “4 major

problems with gun control arguments.” He states, “Making guns illegal or restricting access to

them won’t end gun violence” (Murphy). Much how like there are substances and drugs that are

illegal yet according to studies overdose of drugs is the number one deaths of people across the

United States. Liberals are also to be said that they are blaming the mentally ill for the causes of

the massive shootings. That because an individual committed a crime, they were mentally ill.

Which could be true, but it seemed like that was the reply to every shooting that occurred.

According to the article written by S.E Smith called, “Don’t blame the mentally ill. Blame the

guns.” He talks about that President Trump said that the lack of the mental hospitals was to

blame for the incident that happened in the Parkland, Florida shooting. President Trump also

suggested imprisoning innocent people in the mental- health facilities. Then stated, “he hasn’t

committed the crime, but he may very well.” According to a 2015 analysis as well of about 235

mass murders including shootings found that only 46 of those people were actually mentally ill.

A lot of the reasons were identified as rage, hostility, and just being disgruntled were more
common to have been the cause of the shootings rather than it being a mental condition. Through

some evidence that was presented in the article it says that it suggests that mentally ill people are

less likely to kill people with a gun or any other type of firearm. However, overall how sane they

are also counterparts, and when that happens, they usually end up killing themselves in the

situation (Smith).

Gun control not being legalized cannot be a disadvantage for the country. It can be

advantage, but why? Gun control not being legalized could be another open window for more

black marketing to occur. If someone wants to own a gun, they will fight every will in their

power to get what they want. There is also going to always be people who steal firearms for their

own needs, and if the government gets rid of guns completely, it’ll be a bigger fight to getting

them, even though now people are still stealing and trying to get their hands-on guns if they want

them. Many also argue that more people are killed by guns through homicides, but there are

more deaths in the U.S caused by guns in suicide. Approximately 7,000 of them are suicides.

Instead of worrying about getting completely rid of guns, there is studies that show there needs

to be more dedication to looking into mental health organizations instead. Most people have a

fear of guns just because of the fact on what they can do to other people, not so much on how

they function. Such things like gangs for example uses the use of guns as a way to show their

territory control because they don’t feel valued enough, or they suffer with insecurities. Also,

some people look as gun violence to be a heart or a mental illness as well, instead of something

else or even feeling valued (Ayres). Much people think if they cause a riot, they can get more

people to pay attention to them or even to get noticed by the outside world. They could be in a

state of rejection, or even feeling they are not worthy enough to live. Even trying to get back at

someone when maybe they treated them wrong. From past shootings, such as the Parkland
shooting in Florida the student Nickolas Cruz, who was also the shooter. In the article by Matias

J. Ocner explains how he was bullied in school and didn’t feel welcomed, or even noticed. Later

on, that brought on his mental illness and depression to cause him to get back with revenge for

treating him the way the students may have(Ocner). That doesn’t give him an excuse to kill 17

students in a high school, but when talking about this issue it gives a more prominent description

of why he could be cause such a huge massacre. A big one that is he wanted to be noticed, and

he wanted other to feel the pain that he was going through.

According to an article by Gary Young called, “Why the Gun Control movement fails.”

In the article he talks about the fails that happened in the gun control movement in the U.S.

Through the black American citizens and the low income. Young talks how he’s talked to the

parents of the victims on the children who were killed in a shooting back in 2013, and a police

shooting in Ferguson. He then brings his audience to the point where he asked the parents an

open-ended question. The question was about why they thought these tragedies kept happening.

Young said that not one of their replies had anything to do with the use of guns themselves. Yet,

when he asked a more leading question like what they thought of guns, almost all of them agreed

and thought that guns being everywhere is a problem. They didn’t reply that getting rid of guns is

the solution to all of the issues happening (Young). Judy Williams also talks a little bit about the

issue as well. She explains that she doesn’t think the Second Amendment means what they think

it means. That some of the issues happening doesn’t mean that there should be “no control.”

Then she replies with, “The reality of it is, they are not going to do away with guns in this

country…. The fact is that they are so plentiful on the streets and people have them…. It's

ludicrous to think you can take guns out of people's homes in this country…. It ain't gonna

happen."(Williams). Another solution can seem to be that it is not always the gun in general but
the person carrying the firearm, and not blaming the gun itself. Lastly, Gary Young mentions,

“None of the family members I spoke with raised the Second Amendment one way or the other.

Almost all of them believed that guns were too readily available; none believed there was

anything that could be done about it. Only one mother, according to her Facebook posts, had

developed any real affinity with the gun-control movement.” (Young) However, when it comes

down to it, no one affiliated the massacre that happened with guns themselves.

In an article from the Washington Post, written by Nicole Lewis, she gives us an insight

on how congressional leaders acted after the terrible shooting that occurred in Las Vegas in

October of 2018. From hundreds wounded, to 58 people dead in this mass shooting. They

decided to re-open the debate on the issue for the legislation of gun control. Some politicians

come into this debate and argue to the side that the right to bear arms is protected by the Second

Amendment. As they are issuing more policies, more policies are coming out to not being as

effective as they may have wanted. Members of Congress are trying to come up with ways and

policies that could somehow prevent shootings from happening and to keep the use of guns out

of the wrong hands. Scalise made a claim about strict gun control laws are not having little to no

effect. Much like Chicago, which is one of the strictest gun policies in the U.S, but still deals

with gun violence at least once a week. Out of ranking with the strictest gun laws in the United

States, Illinois is ranked number eight. Illinois gun laws and policies, they include is background

checks on gun sales, waiting periods between the purchase and transfer of guns and gun licensing

(Lewis). New Orleans rates for homicides were shown to be the highest in 2016 even though

their laws are set to be one of the strictest. Which in New Orleans is about 47 per 100,000 people

in the state. Which Chicago had around 16 homicides per 100,000 people in the state.

Researchers traced all new guns that were recovered or related to gun violence in Chicago. From
crimes between the years of 2009 and 2013. Through that, they found that 60 percent of new

guns that were used for gangs and that the other 32 percent were either purchased from other

states or were non-gang related crimes. There are some states that don’t have strict gun control

policies, and the rates for gun death is also very high as well. According to the Law Center,

Alaska ranks forty-four for their gun control policies and they have the highest rate in gun deaths

in the country. Then Louisiana is ranked forty-third and again has the second highest rate of gun

deaths in the country.

On “State of the Union” on CNN on October 8th, Senator Chris Murphy said that tough

gun laws don’t work and pointing at low rates of gun violence with states who have strict gun

policies. According to several studies that Murphy’s spokesperson represented, they examined

the changes and effects that have happened in the states that have banned assault weapons.

Around the 2000’s, gun violence had declined a bit, no one can really determine why that is the

case. Instead, what has been banned has been semi-automatic weapons with large capacities that

appear in military and criminal applications. In October 2016, Kleck gave the statement as, “gun

control laws generally show no evidence of effects on crime rates, possibly because gun levels

do not have a net positive effect on violence rates” (Kleck). Over the years, it has been shown

that requiring a license to possess a gun rather than bans completely do help. It also has seen to

reduce the homicide rate and rate of robbery as well. Murphy made his claim of a 10-year ban on

assault weapons, but it did not do much for reducing gun violence whatsoever. Some studies that

say that gun control reduces gun deaths may not include deaths like suicide. There is a single

study that talks and shows about the improvements in gun violence but can’t really be

generalized correctly next to other states. After every mass shooting, politicians seem to have a

debate over the gun control policy and how they can fix it. They talk about and focus on how to
prevent another shooting from happening, and then the other argument is about how we can’t

give up on the right to bear arms, and the Second Amendment. Politicians can also only work

with the information they have available at the time. Murphy then exaggerates and gives little

evidence to what he was supporting and on his side of the debate for gun violence. He only gives

a hint of the support that he is giving on his side. Which also comes back to President Barack

Obama’s statement claim back in 2015. He said, “The States with the Most Gun Laws see the

Fewest Gun-related deaths.” Which was also a similar claim to what Murphy said. Though,

Obama’s statement was from a chart published in the National Journal (Lewis).

Many People believe that the Second Amendment isn’t an unlimited right to own guns. The

Second Amendment was ratified in 1791 and since it was so long ago, people believe that it is

okay to not follow it completely. According to the 2008 District of Columbia, U.S supreme

Court, Justice Antonin Scalia, LLB, stated, "Like most rights, the right secured by the Second

Amendment is not unlimited… nothing in our opinion should be taken to cast doubt on

longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws

forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings,

or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms”(Scalia). Another

big argument that people debate about is that they think that more gun control laws would reduce

gun deaths. According to Daily Beast and CNN contributor, David Frum states, “American

children under age 15 were nine times more likely to die of a gun accident than children in other

advanced wealthy countries… About 200 Americans go to emergency rooms every day with

gunshot wounds” (Frum). The use of gun licensing laws had shown there was a 14% decrease in

homicides due to gun deaths. However, there was an increase of homicides shown in places

where they were allowed the right to carry and stand your ground laws. Lastly, people make
another statement that guns are rarely used when fighting against self-defense. There were

29,618,300 violent crimes that had been committed between the years of 2007 and 2011. Only

0.79% victims which is about 235,700 protected themselves with the use of a firearm. Then in

2010, there was only said to be 230 justified homicides where a citizen used a gun to kill a felon

with. Rather than comparing it to 8,275 criminal homicides that year. The only property crimes

that were committed in the year of 2007 and the year 2011, there was only about 0.12% of

victims, or 103,000 that had protected themselves with the use of a firearm in the use of their

own home.

In Conclusion, gun control has always been a heated topic in our society. Whether its if

we should get rid of guns completely, make stricter gun laws, or leave the laws as they are. Many

people always have an opinion on what is best. Everyone just wants what is best and to live in a

world where we can be protected and secure without the issues of having to worry about a

massive shooting to occur, and the certain ways we can help to prevent them in general. All in

all, shootings are going to happen because there are criminals in the world that want to have

revenge of at least someone, or the fact their mind not be mentally stable. There could be many

reasons why someone would choose to go to an area and use gun violence to take the lives of

others. Though, increasing gun laws or even legalizing gun control is not a good idea. Because of

the fact that criminals will and still do, use any capacity that they can to get a gun if they want it.

Rather if it’s through black marketing and buying them illegally, stealing or even using the use

of their own firearm they have in their house. The more laws are prohibited, the more people are

going to want to do them. Much like the use of drugs, which is more popular now, and the

highest rate of deaths than it ever has been. When in the main reality of this all, is that no one can
control criminals, but they think they can control guns. Which the main issue in today’s society

is crime control and not gun control.

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