I
have been studying and dwelling on the issue of gun control for a while. I come from a family that enjoys their guns,
and that does not want anything to do with guns. That is to say that my family is split. I have been able to hear both sides of the
argument. Still, I have to look beyond
my family's feelings towards guns to discover what I believe to be the solution
to gun violence.
I have heard every argument made by both sides of the
debate, and I am going to address some of those. I am going to do my best not to be biased
when looking at information and bringing up points of discussion. Since there is so much that can be said on
this topic I am going to divide it up into different posts.
First I have a question to ask you.
Gun lover: If it is discovered and proven that having strict
gun control laws, or banning guns, will completely eliminate or severely
decrease gun violence and make communities safer and more secure, will you be
willing to accept this and embrace the new laws?
Non gun lover: If it is discovered and proven that having no
gun laws at all or very few laws, will completely eliminate or severely
decrease gun violence and make communities safer and more secure, will you be
willing to accept this and embrace the adjustment of laws?
If you answered no to the question, what is your reason? If
it is proven, then what reason left do you have to argue? Isn't the main goal to have a more peaceful
environment to live in? If you cannot
answer yes, then stop reading my blog and don't read any further posts on gun
control, because you are not truly looking for the solution. If you are not willing to be wrong in your
current convictions in finding the solution, then you are not a productive part
of the debate.
We must all realize that we have the same goal in mind, to
make life safer for everyone, we just believe in different ways to approach
it. I will tell you right now, I am not
going to claim to have discovered the correct solution. I will try and look at this discussion from
all angles and present my opinions. I do
not have the answer, but I will try to get us closer to it.
I'm firmly in the "non gun lover" camp, but, if it could be proven that having no, or minimal, laws regulating the sale, ownership, and carrying of firearms would all but do away with gun violence and make communities safer, I would be all for it.
ReplyDeleteWorth pointing out at this point that it is extremely easy for civilians to purchase firearms in the United States today. Any 'proof' that making guns easier to own would reduce gun violence must, for starters, account for historic and current levels of gun violence here relative to countries that regulate more heavily.
I'm afraid you'll also find that gun lovers will reject your premise that making life safer for everyone is an appropriate goal and will not want to participate in a conversation on those terms. On purely fact-free, ideologically-based grounds, they will assert that everyone is safer with a gun. They'll go along with the safety argument that far. However, when shown evidence to the contrary, no argument based on scientific measurement will convince them that anything but what they believe could be true. They will abandon the argument for safety and argue that any attempt to curtail gun ownership based on such evidence is an attempt to strip what they perceive to be their legitimate liberties. On those terms, where safety is a trade-off for liberty and freedom, they will tell you liberty and freedom trump concerns over safety.
If you check the statistics on gun related deaths, They have have been going down the last 10 years... Thats after the AWB expired... Check it out on the FBI website...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2011/crime-in-the-u.s.-2011/tables/expanded-homicide-data-table-8