The United States differs from most countries especially in guns and gun control. America’s total firearm death rate in 2016 was 10.2 (CBS News), which is about 12 times more than almost all other high-income countries around the world; this doesn’t mean that more gun control would solve the problem though. The two most common ways to try to decrease gun related crimes and deaths are to increase or decrease gun control. One works, and one doesn’t. Politically, there are also two opposing viewpoints. The Republican Party typically tends to favor less gun control, and want to preserve the Second Amendment which gives each citizen the right bear arms. The Democratic Party favors gun control, and wants more restrictions and rules on firearms. That leads to the question, would more gun control or less gun control greater benefit the United States? The topic of gun control is very controversial in politics, as well as ethics, and social aspects of life. 

Less gun control as opposed to more gun control would better the United States. Gun control does benefit America to an extent, but more so takes away individual freedoms and rights. If all guns were banned due to gun control, gun related crimes and deaths would decrease in occurrence. However, if a shooting were to happen it would be highly unlikely to be stopped. Criminals that want a gun will find a way to get one; there will always be a loophole. For example, marijuana is banned federally, however, people still acquire the drug. Also, taking guns away from people like Police Officers would be more detrimental to society than helpful, because they are primarily the ones that stop firearm incidents. More gun control would also take guns out of those who use them as a hobby, like hunting. Guns do need some restrictions and regulations, so it’s harder for firearms to end up in the hands of the wrong people. But gun control laws like background checks should make it harder for criminals to acquire guns legally. However, this just leads to the infamous gun show loophole. This loophole promotes private gun transactions that puts guns into the hands of criminals with less effort.

Americans are 10 times more likely to be killed by firearms than people in other developed countries (CBS). That study being true, does not mean it is drastic. The United States has a high rate partly because of how populated America is compared to other countries. The death rates in the US do not exceed other countries death rates by that big of a margin. Last year in America, 58 suicides were gun related. This number is way too high in all aspects, but can be reduced by putting more emphasis on mental health issues and awareness. This number would also decrease if the gun show loophole on background checks decreased. It’s not that there are too many guns present, it’s that too many guns are finding their way into the hands of the wrong owners. This is because the federal government is making it almost impossible for a law-abiding citizen to acquire a gun the legal way. Strict background checks are a form of gun control that decrease the amount of legally sold guns in America, and increase the number of guns sold illegally. 

Those who are trusted individuals should be able to have a concealed carry license. A concealed carry license gives certain individuals the right to holster a gun in public. There is no way to measure trust in an individual, but if there are citizens that have the credentials to carry a firearm they should be persuaded to do so. America is a safer place when more guns are put into the hands of the right people. There are many longevities in obtaining a license. This makes it so that unqualified citizens cannot possess a firearm. The 2016 president Elect, Donald Trump, is anti-gun control, and possesses a concealed carry permit himself. Trump has a concealed carry license, and believes they should be valid in all 50 states (On the Issues). In the United States, concealed carry permits are doing more positive than negative. For example, on February 12, 2007, Sulejman Talovic opened fire at a crowded mall in Utah. The lone gunman killed five bystanders before off-duty police officer Kenneth Hammond stopped the shooter (Town Hall). If Hammond wasn’t there to stop the shooter, it is likely that more deaths would’ve occurred in the Trolley Square Shopping Mall that day. The United States needs more people like Kenneth Hammond, it does not need more gun control. 

Another way to make crime go down is to put even more police officers in places where crime is the highest, as well as making the consequence for possessing an unregistered gun more rigorous. The United States can impose laws and regulations like these to make America a safer place without directly applying gun control laws. Gun control makes America more susceptible to mass murders and gun related crime. Because of the abundance of firearms in the United States, it would be nearly impossible to ban or restrict all of them. 

 Passed in 1993, the Brady Bill, mandates background checks on gun buyers. The Brady Bill is an example of how gun control is ineffective in the United States. Although it is a step in the direction of getting guns out of the hands of criminals, there will always be a loophole. About 40 percent of all gun transactions that take place in the United States happen privately (US News). It is irrational to say that all citizens abide by each and every law, especially in this case. Ironically, the number of private gun transactions will continue to increase if more gun control laws are passed. Law abiding citizens will no longer want to go through the process of purchasing a gun legally if the process becomes too much of a challenge. 

The NRA is a non-profit organization that focuses on protecting the second amendment of the Bill of Rights. In 2016, a recent poll came out stating that nearly 8 out 10 crimes committed are used with an illegally possessed firearm (Washington Post). The NRA wants to protect law abiding citizens, and the NRA “has been saying all along is that criminals, by definition, don’t follow the law. As a result, new gun control laws will do nothing to prevent crime and make us safer,” meaning that criminals will continue to be criminals. Gun control would only place a burden on those that follow the law with their firearm(s), while doing little to combat crime. When asking a Baltimore Police Officer what he would do to reduce gun related crime, his response was, “more cops on the street or better technology,” (Washington Post). As mentioned earlier, crime will go down in high crime areas if more police officers populate that location. 

The NRA is also influential on policy making in the United States government. The NRA has been directly lobbying American legislators and policy makers since 1871. This organization does way more than just lobby politicians. The NRA lobbies elections, they also raise money. For example, Donald Trump and Ronald Reagan were both endorsed by the NRA during their presidential campaign, and went on to win both of those elections. The NRA also contributed 40 million dollars to the Mitt Romney Campaign in 2008, however, Romney lost this election to Barack Obama (NRA). The NRA is not directly affiliated with the Republican Party, because of how isolated their views are. The Republicans do not cover or attempt to pass all legislation the NRA tries to lobby. However, most Republicans are anti-gun control, and represent the NRA far better than the Democrats do. The NRA is a big reason as to why strict gun control laws don’t pass. The organization’s purpose is to promote the second amendment and less gun control, because it is best for America.

America is already vulnerable to gun related crimes, because they happen way too often. The United States, unfortunately, is most vulnerable to gun related mass murders in schools where future generations are trying to get an education. Schools function better with one or two police officers on school property. Criminals that want to enter schools and fire off a gun can do so with ease if a police officer or armed citizen isn’t there to stop the shooter.

On December 14th, 2012, the murdering of 20 children and 6 adults took place at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. The 26 innocent civilians killed that day goes down as the second-deadliest in United States history (Washington Post). Barack Obama gave a speech later that afternoon promising “meaningful action to prevent more tragedies like this,” but gave no specifics on how to prevent these horrific events from occurring. Shootings like this one can be prevented by appointing police officers to keep schools safer, or put a firearm in the hands of someone trusted. It took a whole two minutes and 41 seconds for the first officer to show up on the scene (CNN), which gave the shooter ample time to do the damage he did. Instead of a police officer, the school implemented locks that only allowed authorized personnel into the building for security purposes. The shooter, Lanza, shot his own way into the school allowing him to kill these people. Criminals will find a way to obtain a gun if they’re motivated enough. The response to this is to put more guns in the right hands, not by increasing gun control.

School shootings require Kairos, from not only the president of the United States at the time (Barack Obama), but to communities and law makers. Mental health is an underlying cause of why death rates due to firearms are so high. Adam Lanza, the Sandy Hook murderer was diagnosed with Asperger’s disease, a social condition that is treatable through different types of therapy. This condition most likely lead Lanza to commit the murders he did on December 14th, 2012. Mental illnesses that lead to firearm related deaths can be suppressed and decreased by promoting mental health awareness. Mental health awareness can be a substitute for gun control. In 2015, more than 60 percent of gun deaths were due to suicide which is approximately 58 people a day (NY Times). If mental health issues were promoted more, the number of suicides a day would most likely decrease, making the percent of suicides due to guns decrease as well. This has nothing to do with increasing gun control, but has a lot to do with the realization of what’s taking place with gun rates in America - mental illnesses.

Communities need to work together to resolve this mental health outbreak that is causing 60 percent of gun related deaths to be suicides. Aside from publicizing mental health issues, communities should appoint citizens to go through the process of obtaining a concealed carry permit to further protect their community. Dylann Roof, a South Carolina native and adolescent, shot and killed nine African American civilians in a church in North Charleston on June 17th, 2015. Roof was sitting in the church for 15 minutes before he fired any shots off (CNN). If this community were to have someone in, or near that church building with a concealed carry permit, the chances of Roof killing nine people that night would be slim. Concealed carry permits outweigh more gun control, because it is impossible to keep guns out of the hands of untrustworthy United States Citizens. 

Dylann Roof purchased his gun that killed nine civilians through a technicality known as “Delayed Denial”, or the “Charleston loophole.” Delayed Denial happens when background checks are forwarded to the FBI to confirm or deny a gun sale. If the FBI does not reply with a confirmation or denial in three business days, the gun seller is then allowed to sell the weapon. If after the sale the results come back negative, meaning the customer is not allowed to possess the gun, the FBI is then supposed to retrieve the weapon. Background checks like these make it far worse for the United States, and statistics show that Charleston Loophole put 2,892 guns in the wrong hands in 2015 (Time). The response to this is, again, is to put guns in the hands of the right people so that America is a safer place, not a more susceptible place.

The jurisdiction of federal law plays a big role in gun control, as well. Some court decisions have shown that gun control just is not the solution. A Supreme Court decision that proves gun control was never the solution is the Columbia vs. Heller case (2008, US News). This court case ruled that the Constitution protects an individual’s right to own a gun for personal use, however, this decision only applied to federal laws and failed to address local and state laws. In 2010, The Supreme Court then ruled that the right to bear arms also applies to local and state laws. For 30 years before the Columbia vs. Heller verdict, the Chicago-Gun-Ban was in full affect taking away individual liberties and freedoms at the federal, state, and local levels. The Supreme Court ruling proves that gun control does not benefit the United States. The ruling also suggests that guns don’t kill people, people kill people. 

People kill people, but people kill animals as well. Hunting is a past time in which many people in the United States enjoy as a hobby. With more gun control laws, or the idea of banning all guns would make hunting a lot harder than it already is. Hunters already must deal with what gauge of shotgun they are or aren’t allowed to use, what areas they’re allowed to fire in, and what times they’re allowed to hunt in. Gun control would most likely take away their rifles, which would then lead to a major decrease in hunting, a practice that some people do for a living. 

Policy makers should end the long-lasting controversy over gun control by going at the root of the problem that makes this topic so difficult to side on. That problem being the loophole on background checks that lead to guns being put into the hands of the wrong people. More importantly, guns need to be put into the hands of the right people. Trustworthy individuals should be persuaded to go through the process of obtaining concealed carry permits which makes it harder for criminals to cause mass murder and commit gun related crimes. More Police officers also make it harder for not only gun related crime to occur, but crime in general. Death rates due to firearms can decrease without increasing gun control. Gun control laws diminish the rights each citizen is given by the second amendment. The second amendment gives the American people the right to bear arms and fight against tyrannical government. Gun control does the opposite, and infringes on the right that American people have, to keep and bear arms. 
