Gun Control Will Not Effect Violent Crime Rates

Gun control are policies meant to control the manufacture, sale, ownership or use of firearms by the civilians. The debate on gun control has been hitting the headlines in our media due to the current rise in crime rates in the United States. Most criminal activities are carried out with the help of firearm for instance, robbery and rape (Lott, 25). Gun-related violence has inflicted much harm on the American society including the death of innocent people caught in the crossfire during mass shootings, gang-related shootout and incidences of armed robbery. We cannot ignore the harm done by these armed criminals, and we must take actions to stop this horror. With this regard, some legislators have pushed for policies that eliminate legal ownership of firearms with a view to controlling the rising crime rates. Gun control does not address the real problem at hand and will not reduce the violent crime rates.

Gun control policies will take away guns from the hands of law abiding citizens leaving them vulnerable and defenseless. Under the second amendment of the US Constitution, every American citizen has a right to own a firearm (Rosen, 17). Guns are meant for self-defense in case of life-threatening incidences like robbery, rape and to stop mass shootings. Taking firearms from Americans would leave them unprotected and vulnerable to robbery and attacks by armed criminals. Gun control will only motivate criminal to carry out crimes since they know that their victims are unarmed (Zimring, 725). For this reason, putting restrictions on gun ownership does not address the real problem of crime.

Even with Gun controls measure, criminal will still find ways to acquire arms. This is because most criminal acquire their firearms through the black market. This is confirmed by the fact that criminals always use illegal firearms such as sawed-off shotguns, homemade zip guns, and machine guns which are not around to be sold to civilians. This shows that criminals will not be affected by these restrictions on guns since they will still acquire firearms illegally and continue terrorizing people (Jones, 7). Instead of implementing policies that will make the American citizens more vulnerable, legislators should focus on the root causes of rising crime rates and address them.

Despite the above arguments against gun control, putting restrictions on firearm ownership may in a way reduce the rising crimes rates in the country. Gun control may prevent some gun related violence that occurs as a result of irresponsible gun handling. Gun control policies do not deny the American citizens their Second Amendment rights since it does not eliminate the ownership of guns but put restrictions on it. Gun control puts strict background checks on those who have applied for guns to prevent terrorists and criminals from acquiring firearms (Kleck & Britt, 271). These policies will definitely reduce the gun-related violence.

In conclusion, I believe that making ownership of firearms illegal to civilians will not prevent criminal from acquiring guns and committing crimes. If anything, gun control will only encourage criminals to commit crimes because their victims are unarmed. The paper established that regulation of firearm acquisition by the government will not reduce gun-related violence in the country. Taking away guns from law abiding citizens does not address the actual problem of crime but makes these citizens defenseless and vulnerable to attacks.

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