Persuasive Essay On Gun Control

Throughout the past several decades gun control has been put under scrutiny by the media and general public. A percentage of the public believes that harsher gun control laws should be put into effect. These supposed gun laws range anywhere from a nationwide ban of assault weapons to a complete ban of guns. Supporters of gun control argue that taking away guns from the public will beneficial for the average American citizen by preventing deaths and decreasing crime. However evidence points to the opposite being true. The United States government should not increase gun control laws because it goes against the second amendment of the constitution, would not prevent crime, and would cost American lives.

Gun control laws should not be augmented

Guns can be a very strong deterrent against crime as evidenced by a survey in which “56 percent of felons across 10 state prisons said they would not attack a potential victim known to be armed”( Washington post 2). This information helps to support the fact that allowing citizens to be armed does not lead to an increase in crime but instead can actually lead to a noticeable decrease in crime. Simply allowing a citizen to be armed can prevent roughly 56 percent of felons from attacking them. Along with this “half the top 10 states with the lowest gun-death rates (per 100,00 residents here) have less-restrictive gun laws”( Washington Post 2). The fact that half the top 10 states with the lowest number of gun deaths per 100,00 people have less restrictive gun laws supports that an increase in gun control regulations would not mean there would be a decrease in crime. While on the surface it does seem as if decreasing gun ownership in the United States would decrease crime, this is simply just not true. In reality all of this evidence just proves that “Placing strict regulations on gun ownership will only benefit criminals by disarming those who could otherwise defend themselves”(source 2 page 2). Due to the fact that over 50 percent of felons will not attack citizens that are clearly armed and half of the top 10 states with the lowest gun death rates have less restrictive gun laws it is clear that strict gun regulations do not decrease