Does Gun Control Work?

By Danny Lewis


MSNBC Reports:

The most recent mass shooting at a movie theater in Lafayette, Louisiana, last Thursday, has re-focused the nation’s attention on the debate over solutions to preventing future instances of gun violence. In 2013, the White House released a report that suggested background checks were the first line of defense in preventing criminals and the mentally ill from obtaining firearms.

But, in the cases of Lafayette and the June 17 shooting at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, background checks failed to prevent both gunmen from legally obtaining a weapon. John Houser, the Lafayette theater gunman, was able to purchase a handgun in Alabama despite having been previously admitted to a mental hospital in Georgia.

We should learn from both shootings that background checks are not effective at keeping guns out of the hands of bad people. But it’s not just background checks that don’t work its gun control as a whole.

Let’s take a look at the United Kingdom which has strict gun control laws. The Library of Congress gives an overview of UK gun laws:


Even with strict gun control in the UK, there were 7,714 firearm offenses according to 2014 ONS statistics.

Violent crime recently rose by 16 percent The Telegraph reports:




There were 24,043 rapes in recorded crime figures for the year, a rise of 31 percent on the previous 12 months and 81 percent higher than a decade earlier.

Sky News also reports that knife crimes are up by 13%:

The figures show there were 1,577 more knife assaults (up 13% from the previous year) and 1,000 more cases of knife possession (up 10%).

Overall, knife crime rose by 2% in the 12 months up to March this year, said the Office for National Statistics.

These statistics show that gun regulation will not necessarily stop violence. Instead, violence used with a different weapon such as knives replaces illegal gun use. Should we have background checks to purchase kitchen knives?

USA Today reports that Baltimore and Chicago are the Top 2 US cities in homicide rate so far in 2015, both cities have strict gun control laws.

These trends show that gun control laws do not necessarily make us safer. If anything, they make us less safe. The shootings in Louisiana and South Carolina both occurred in gun-free zones where law abiding citizens are unable to protect themselves.

Gun safety is not achieved by government, but by the individual. The 2nd Amendment exists so gun safety is in the hands of the people to protect themselves. Violent criminals will always exist, no matter how many government regulations there are. Gun control hinders law abiding citizens from being able to protect themselves from the violent criminals.


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