The Pros And Cons Of Gun Control

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On December 15, 1791, the Second Amendment was ratified in the United States Constitution. The second amendment states, “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” (Martinell 1). In today’s society, there is an everlasting debate over gun control laws and the Second Amendment. Gun control laws are described as the legal measures to license, control, or restrict the ownership of firearms by members of the public. Some people see gun control as a direct violation to the Second Amendment when in reality, gun control laws were created to regulate the improper uses of firearms. The ongoing debate continues: Are gun control laws as effective …show more content…

The government can create gun control laws to attempt to decrease crime, but that does not stop a criminal from pursuing the crime. Crimes can vary from murder, assault, battery, theft, and many more. Focusing on murder, Mark Gius did a study between the years 1980-2009 and found that “assault weapon bans did not significantly affect murder rates at the state level" and "states with restrictions on the carrying of concealed weapons had higher gun-related murders" (265). Gun control laws do not deter a criminal from committing a crime. A murderer has a motive and gun control laws do not have an impact on the decision to take someone’s life. Also, in an interview with John R. Lott on his book, More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun Control Laws (1998), he goes on to add that “states with the largest increases in gun ownership also have the largest drops in violent crimes.” In other words, creating gun control laws to regulate the ownership of concealed weapons would have an extremely negative impact and increase the number of gun-related crimes. Also in the interview with John R. Lott, he responds to a question about murder rates and concealed weapons by stating “murder rates decline when either more women or more men carry concealed handguns.” Many people today will have different outlooks on gun control laws when it comes to crime. I believe if a concealed weapon is taken away from a law-abiding citizen, then the crime rates will continue to increase over time. As the old saying goes, “If guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have