Gun Control Facts and Fallacies

Gun+Control+Facts+and+Fallacies

Angel Silva, Editor

For the past two weeks since the Las Vegas shooting, the Congressional debate in regards to the 2nd Amendment and gun control has resurfaced, with the main proposal being to ban assault rifles. With many students at Whitney Young rallying behind gun control, especially after the slight panic that took place October 12th when there was fear of an active shooter in the area, it is important to know the facts and fallacies of the gun control debate before picking a side.

 

Fallacy: Assault weapons should be banned to lower gun violence:

Assault weapons in the United States only account for a little over 300 gun deaths a year out of a grand total of 11,208 murders making assault weapons 2.7% of that statistic. 97.3% of deaths caused by gun violence are by handguns, and 97% of all gun murders in the United States where caused by individuals wielding illegal firearms.

 

Fact: More Legal guns means less crime:

Multiple studies have shown that more guns make for less crime in the United States. Author John R. Lott Jr. wrote a book in 1993 Entitled “More Guns, Less Crime” holding his findings and research on gun laws and the effects they actually have. He concluded that more conceal to carry weapons held by citizens would decrease violent crimes.

Patrick Tyrrell of CNS News wrote that the period between 1986 and 2013 saw both a surge in legal gun circulation and a drop in criminal homicides.

 

In the end, the real first steps to take in minimizing gun violence would be to stop trying to make it harder to law abiding citizens to buy guns, but to attack the real issue. Criminals with guns they shouldn’t have in the first place.