Gun Control: Why I Am Against It

Gun Control. You’ve heard it all over the news, they all talk about it. From CNN to Daily Wire, Gun Control has never escaped from political talk. Like a lingering cloud, when one brings it up, it explodes into a storm – no one can agree on it. A hurricane of accusations and angered shouts. Well, I’m here to throw my hat into the ring… and into the eye of the storm. Gun Control is not the answer to gun violence, however, it is an odd solution to such a divided political topic. Rather than regulating access to guns, we should instead educate the usage of guns and how to quickly defuse an active shooter situation. Research shows that clamping down on firearms had a reverse effect than intended and most deaths in America as a whole is related to heart disease, not gun violence. Not to mention that Gun Control did not deter the number of deaths by gun violence.

According to a study by The Lancet, most gun laws put in place to reduce firearm violence failed to work. From 25 state-enforced firearm laws, 9 of them even increased gun violence. Also, between 1980 and 2009, assault weapon bans did not deter deaths by murder at state levels. In fact, states with restricted concealed carry laws had an increased rate of firearm-related murders. Obviously, this has already shown how firearm regulation laws have failed to do the function they were made for – to reduce firearm deaths. That means that increasing firearm regulations would be ineffective as a whole and it may even make it worse.

  Furthermore, The CDC’s “Leading Causes Of Deaths Report” states that most people died from heart disease, cancer, and Diabetes from 1999 to 2013. While gun-related violence, wherever it was accidents or murder, is ranked 12th on the list. Gun violence also only contributed to a mere 1.3% of deaths during the time of the report. This shows that gun control is simply not needed in these times. Even the usage of high-caliber and high-magazine weapons still is irrelevant to the massively minute amount of overall deaths by gun violence in the U.S.

Finally, instead of regulating the usage of firearms we should instead be educating people on how to handle firearms and what to do when an active shooter is in the area. Some schools are already doing this after the many infamous shootings of Orlando, Vegas, and Virginia Tech. Educating people how to safely handle firearms and educating how to diffuse a shooter can save dozens of lives in seconds, especially if the shooter is using a high-caliber and high-magazine firearm. That is why Gun Control is not the answer for gun violence. The research against it shows errs of state laws,  minute murders by gun violence, and laws that did not deter gun violence. Also, the fact that the top killer is heart disease shows that gun violence isn’t as big as its shadow. That is why I personally believe that gun control is not needed and why gun education is much better than the former.