Abby Helvering
I trust the fire department, but that doesn’t mean I don’t own smoke detectors and fire extinguishers. I trust the police also, but that doesn’t mean I won’t own a gun when I live on my own.
There is no question that gun violence is a terrible, terrible problem, and one that has been highlighted by recent tragic events. Something ought to be done. That being said, handgun restrictions, assault weapon bans, gun-free zones and sweeping gun control legislative acts are not the answer. While I’m sure all of these solutions are proposed with the best intentions and a sincere desire to better society, they are proposed with a certain amount of naïveté.
As I understand it, there are three main types of gun violence which are primarily targeted by such laws: gun murders, organized crime and random shootings. Of the three, certainly the latter draws the most attention and sorrow from the public and the legislature; additionally, it is the hardest to prevent through legislative action.
Shootings of this type are generally perpetrated by mentally ill and emotionally unstable individuals who have no business owning a gun. The easy answer to this is background checks, which I admit can absolutely help in preventing a small number of these incidents. But the fact is that almost all perpetrators in these incidents do not come by their guns legally, so impositions on legal avenues fail to even touch the root of the problem. There is no good answer.
Any legislation which so drastically limits gun ownership that it prevents random shootings would also drastically impact civil liberties.
So what about cases where a child gets ahold of a gun? Quite frankly, it isn’t the place of the government to ensure that children cannot do so. This is the responsibility of the parents, or whomever it is that owns the gun. Do we want the government to be so involved in our lives that it acts in loco parentis? Just like parents are the ones responsible if they let their children play in the street, they are the ones responsible if they let that child get ahold of a gun. This is the price we pay for some individual autonomy.
It is also important to note that random shootings comprise less than one percent of all murders. This isn’t to say that they are insignificant. Of course not! And I definitely don’t think that the solution is arming our teachers or increasing the prevalence of guns; these solutions just increase the possibility that guns will fall into the wrong hands.
There are governmental actions which can reduce gun violence, but limiting gun ownership is not the route to take. The U.S. homicide rate has actually decreased as gun ownership increased. The amount of firearm deaths has decreased by 100 percent in the last 10 years, yet, at the same time, gun ownership is higher than ever. The fact is that guns are effective tools in self-defense.
One shortcoming of much proposed legislation is that it assumes those who would commit gun crimes would respect gun legislation. If someone is planning on committing armed robbery, why would they care if it’s a gun free zone? Chicago has enacted some of the most comprehensive gun control laws, but it has some of the highest instances of gun violence. Handgun and assault weapons bans don’t work. Cracking down on the illegal arms trade does.