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Rebecca Orduna

Monica Rodriguez

ENGL 1302

17 March 2022

Gun Control

Gun control has been a controversial issue for many years now. Many people want our

elected officials to restrict or completely ban guns in the United States due to the violence they

bring, but on the other hand some people believe that taking such action would be

unconstitutional because it would go against the second amendment, “the right to bear arms.”

Most people seem to be supportive of the few gun control laws we have. Some people even

believe that we should have more laws. Paul Helmke writes about gun violence in his article

Targeting Gun Violence, and states that “there are very few federal laws restricting access to

guns, and those have serious loopholes” (551). Enforcing gun control can limit possession of

firearms, gun violence, and criminal homicide.

Limiting Possession of Firearms

“Research suggests that the availability of guns in a community affects the likelihood that

a firearm will be used in assaults and robberies” (Cook et al, 24). Therefore if gun control laws

focus on reducing access to guns it will have a domino effect on crime rates and gun violence.

Philip J. Cook and Harold A. Pollack state in their article, Reducing Access to Guns by Violent

Offenders, that if we find a way to cut off the supply of firearms to gang members, minors, and

other legally disqualified individuals “the rate of gun violence would dwindle rapidly, and in six

months be a fraction of its current level” (3).

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Reduction of Gun Violence

An advantage to gun control can be the reduction of gun violence. Stell argues that

“reducing the percentage of homicides committed with guns is the key to reducing America's

homicide rate” (39). Professor Zimring states that “other countries with assault rates similar to

America's but with lower gun prevalence and with a commensurately lower percentage of

homicide committed with guns enjoy homicide rates 50%+ lower than America” (38). To back

this up, Stell provided a chart of crimes committed with firearms where he claims “associated

with the declining use of guns in crime was a 40% decline in the homicide rate” (41).

Reduce criminal homicide

Lastly, enforcing gun control would reduce criminal homicide rates. Philip argues that

“the main concern should be less about the current stock of guns in private hands and more about

the flow of guns: the ease of obtaining one for criminal purposes” (3). He argues that we should

not focus on how many guns are out in public and more on how to stop people from obtaining

them so easily. Philip states that if we find a way to cut off the supply of firearms to gang

members, minors, and other legally disqualified individuals “the rate of gun violence would

dwindle rapidly, and in six months be a fraction of its current level” (3).

Conclusion

Gun violence is a very serious problem in the United States. From school shootings to robberies

the guns used to commit these horrible crimes have fallen into the wrong hands too easily. The

public should keep demanding for stricter gun control. Some people think that gun control goes

against our right to bear arms, but “there is no serious, citizenship-based right to bear arms”

(Stell, 29). Therefore people should not rely on the second amendment as their only source to

back up the fact that they do not want gun control. This is a moral issue not a constitutional one.