Every individual has a different mindset because we, as humans, have the trait of originality and a uniqueness that sets us apart from the next. This means that our opinions and how we view a situation are clearly going to differ from each other’s. Notably, a controversial topic that has been a recurrence lately is gun control. Whether guns should be restricted from the citizens has been heavily debated about and people label themselves as pro gun control or anti gun control. The name is slightly misleading because pro gun control actually supports the idea of more laws being passed so restrictions are put on guns, while anti gun control contradicts that belief and thinks limitations to the access of guns would violate our rights as American citizens. The Second Amendment permits citizens of the United States the “right to keep and bear arms” and some people believe this right should not be infringed (Second Amendment). Others however, think the Second Amendment is being misinterpreted considering it states “a well regulated militia” (Second Amendment)  can bear arms and that only applies to the military. Guns have been taking a toll on the people in the United States, Thirty-two Americans are killed everyday due to gun violence and on average, eight of them are kids and teens (“About Gun Violence”). This information alone is enough to realize the severity of this situation. The gun control debate is primarily just about how this situation should be handled and resolved. But, looking at proof, it evidently shows laws should not be passed to regulate guns. The laws would take away rights that citizens have, fail to reduce crime rates, and by confining the freedom of the citizens it will cause them to rebel.

Gun control should not be implemented because the majority of the people who own a legal firearm weapon use it for protection or as a hobby. Law-abiding citizens should not be punished for the few others that abuse the use of a gun. In fact, 270 million people in the U.S. has possession of a gun(“United States-Gun Facts”). This shows that not everyone buys a gun with a motive of violence because that would be more than 85 percent of the country’s population trying to commit crimes involving a gun.

If guns were to be revoked by the government with the purpose to reduce crime, it would not work because the rate of gun ownership has no relationship whatsoever to decreasing felonies. “The Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy” performed a statistical study and exhibited evidence that concluded there is not a correlation to the belief less guns would mean less crimes. According to the evidence, Russia had a high murder rate in comparison to its low  gun ownership rate while Austria had a very low murder rate compared to its strikingly high percentage of gun ownership (Kates and Mauser). If the possession of a gun really did influence the murder rate in a negative way, then Austria should have had a lot more homicides than Russia. This is essentially a glimpse of what the outcome we would get if we did ban guns.

When you confine people of their rights and freedom, they will rebel. The document that our nation was founded on was, “The Declaration of Independence”. Where the Preamble begins, states, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness” With this in mind, if guns were to be prohibited then citizens would feel as though their “unalienable rights” were being overstepped. This is the same concept for the Second Amendment. “The Constitution”, where the Second Amendment is located, was created for the purpose to explain our rights and duties as citizens. The Second Amendment gives us the right to keep and bear arms. If our natural rights were violated then it would go against what “The Declaration of Independence” and “The Constitution” said. This would result in an uproar of protests, even now there are protests and rallies against gun control because people are dissatisfied.

On the contrary, due to the fact that there is a gun epidemic and people are dying everyday, supporters of gun control believe that guns should be banned altogether. This is not a compelling argument to base off such a drastic decision because people die everyday, it’s inevitable. It could be a natural cause or the cause of violence with the use of a weapon other than a gun; it’s just the reality of it. However, if guns were taken away from the people, they would appear more vulnerable and defenseless from an attack since criminals know for a fact they are not armed. Some people believe background checks to obtain a gun are not thorough and that leads to weapons falling into the wrong hands. Despite this, criminals will always find a way to obtain a gun illegally since they ultimately do not care about the laws. They can get a gun anywhere, they can also get a gun by stealing or taking away someone else’s that went through the background check already. That is why being a supporter of anti gun control seems like the more logical approach on the issue.

Gun control is not necessary. Adding another law when the people are not following the laws that are implemented now is absurd. Current laws should be enforced more strictly.  The future for next generations will be just as atrocious and unfathomable unless a move is made. What we also need to start working on are, the people. Our moral values as human beings should be put into play rather than fighting to regulate and ban guns because that isn’t going to change a single thing until people start realizing the error in their ways.  Changing people’s morals can be done by one person taking a stand and it will become a domino effect. According to research done by sociologists, the cohort effect which is a theory that causes you to change your views to match those of your peers can change a person’s morality (Palmer). One person can ultimately
change another person’s morals and that will make people see their misconceptions. Guns are harmful, to help with this issue, banning it won’t always be the answer. It has to be thought about more from a logical and reasonable perspective. The consequences of these decisions also needs to be considered. That is why laws should not be passed to regulate or ban guns.