Against Gun Control

Against Gun Control
Name
Institutional Affiliation

Abstract
Gun control efforts have lasted for many years despite being controversial. Some people feel that guns are to blame for the increase in the number of murder cases. Other people feel that guns are not to blame, as someone has to harbor the intention to kill first before he does so, and would use anything to accomplish the same. On close examination, guns would not kill people if people did not use them to do it. Therefore, gun control laws would not achieve what they set to achieve if they intend to avoid murder cases. Even though the gun control efforts may not achieve what proponents intend them to, they will come with other effects on the citizens of the United States. Therefore, when deciding to implement these efforts, it is important to approach the issue with sober minds, as the effects of these laws may be harmful to the nation.
Keywords: Gun, control, controversial, proponents, laws, citizens,
Against Gun Control
Controversial policies deserve serious consideration before implementation. Gun control is one of the controversial issues in the United States that that have never been addressed productively over the years. The issue divides the country into two groups because it has almost the same number of proponents and opponents. Gun control refers to much more than many citizens understand. Many citizens think that it only refers to the regulation of the use of the guns by civilians, but it covers even the manufacture and distribution of the guns.

Proposers of gun control claim that they enhance cases of killing each other. However, this view is far-fetched and does not hold any water, and as such, it is misleading and would not offer the solution required. Vehicles kill people in car accidents, but there has never been a vehicle control proposal seeking to limit vehicle ownership because such a solution would not work, as the problem is not the vehicles but the people. People who use guns to kill would still kill with other tools if guns did not exist, and as such, controlling their ownership does not offer the much-needed solution. Citizens of goodwill should oppose gun control efforts because they seek to compromise people’s lifestyles, they would lead to increase in crime, and they would increase corruption.
Proponents of gun control use specific words with the intention to influence masses. For example, they mostly use words like, ‘gun-violence prevention,’ and ‘criminal access to firearms’ among other words intended to influence the voters into thinking that the guns are their enemies, and they need protection from them. They also use the name ‘assault weapons’ wrongly for the same purpose. What they refer to as ‘assault weapons’ is what people use while hunting and in target shooting tournaments. For example, some rifles in the category of ‘assault weapons’ are mostly used for competitions in the country. According to a Pew Research report, 38% of gun owners own them for hunting, while three-in-ten people own them for sport shooting (Parker, Horowitz, Igielnik, Oliphant, & Brown, 2017). With the use of such conjured terms, the proponents will easily manage to influence the masses to agree with the gun control laws, but in the process, they will be compromising the lifestyles of other Americans. The figures shown represent many Americans who rely on guns for fun. Passing of such laws would compromise their lifestyles. It would mean that they would be forced to engage in other ways of having fun, some of which may be dangerous for them and other citizens. For example, the young people who enjoy such lifestyles may be forced to join criminal gangs or may become addicted to drug use as a way of venting their frustrations. Such moves would be dangerous for them and other people. Therefore, to avoid such cases, people should oppose the gun control efforts.
Gun control efforts may lead to increase in crime as opposed to minimizing it. Many gun owners in the country possess them because of the need to protect themselves from thieves and other criminal minded people (Diener, & Kerber, 1979). Criminals know that they cannot easily manage to rob or hurt someone who owns a gun, and as such, they are discouraged from engaging in such vices because they also fear getting hurt. Without guns, it would mean that the citizens would be vulnerable to criminal attacks, as they will not have proper means of protecting themselves. The criminals, who are otherwise discouraged from engaging in criminal activities, would not have a reason to fear and they will have an easy time robbing and hurting the people. Therefore, the knowledge that they will find helpless citizens would encourage them to engage in illegal activities and this would increase crime in the country. As said above, gun control would also compromise people’s lifestyles, forcing them to find other means of spending their leisure time. For example, a young person who was used to the excitement in the shooting competitions may seek the same excitement in other dangerous avenues like engaging in drug use and drug trafficking to pass the time and make money. If such a person becomes an addict, it would mean that he or she would require money to keep getting the drugs. If he or she lacks the money, he or she will engage in illegal activities like stealing to get the money to sustain the need for drugs intake. If such people ganged up, they would terrorize the citizens. For this reason, it is important to oppose the gun control laws since their implementation may do more harm than good for the nation by leading to an increase in crime.
Gun control efforts are older than the United States. Before the nation got its independence, there were efforts aimed at controlling who could own guns and who could not. However, during this period, the laws did not apply uniformly to people of all races and religions. The black people, slaves, were not allowed to own guns (Cooke, 2014). The whites feared that if these people owned guns, they would not have an advantage over them, and this was not something they were ready for yet. The founding fathers, however, had a better plan and with the Second Amendment of 1791, everyone had a right to own a gun. Gun control laws seek to go against this progressive step and return the nation to the dark days when discrimination along racial lines was the order of the day, and people from different races received different treatment. With the implementation of gun control, discrimination will happen again regarding who will own a gun and who will not. In the current day, the discrimination may not happen along racial lines, although this is still a possibility. Mostly discrimination will take place according to financial capabilities. Since gun control efforts seek to regulate the manufacture and distribution of guns, it means that the number of guns would reduce. Reduction of guns in the country would increase their demand, and only the rich will be able to own the guns. The situation would get worse if the reduction of the number of guns gave rise to a black-market trade of guns. The poor will not have a chance to own the guns, and this will be against their rights as shown in the landmark case of McDonald v. Chicago, 561 U.S. 742 (2010), where the court said that owning a gun is a right protected in the constitution. To avoid corruption, citizens should oppose gun control efforts.
As shown, gun control efforts would lead to more harm than good. If supported by the citizens, the efforts would mess with many people’s lifestyles leading to an increase in crime, and they would also lead to increase of corruption cases in the United States. It is imperative that people of goodwill oppose the gun control efforts because guns do not kill people, people do.

References
Cooke, C. (2014, October 25). Do black people have equal gun rights? The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/26/opinion/sunday/do-black-people-have-equal-gun-rights.html
Diener, E., & Kerber, K. W. (1979). Personality characteristics of American gun-owners. The Journal of social psychology, 107(2), 227-238.
Parker, K., Horowitz, J. M., Igielnik, R., Oliphant, B., & Brown, A. (2017, June 22). The demographics of gun ownership. Pew Research Center. Retrieved from http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2017/06/22/the-demographics-of-gun-ownership/