Although there are many pro gun control media outlets, this article speaks from the anti-gun control perspective. Changing the country’s views to gun violence and gun control is not an easy task. With so many misunderstandings about the topic, it becomes more and more difficult to influence an individual’s decision. For instance, what people tend to not realize is that this country has actually seen a remarkable decrease in gun violence and gun related crimes since 1990. In addition, most of these gun related crimes tend to be associated with suicide attempts and not murders. Another misconception deals with gun related policy and its effectiveness. For instance, the majority of American citizens believe creating an effective policy to reduce gun control in our country is simple. However, what they tend to forget is the difficulty of agreeing on an initiative that is not only implementable, but effective and enforceable as well.
In regards to the different types of weapons that are associated with gun violence, the American public wants banned. American citizens find the need to only ban assault weapons, because they are believed to be ‘more dangerous’. What the majority of American citizens don’t realize is that assault weapons don’t shoot more bullets, they are not more powerful, and they do not shoot faster than other weapons. If we ban assault weapons, there is still a whole other market of non-assault weapons that are just as powerful and dangerous.
One of the big questions associated with gun control and gun violence is the possible introduction of foreign policies, such as UK and Australian policies, in America. Whether it is the restriction of private ownership of guns like they have in the UK, or the gun buyback program similar to the one they have in Australia, both policies would be unsuccessful in America. This is because one, we have a Constitution allowing our citizens to exercise certain rights, and two, people do not wish to sell their guns to the government.
Lastly, a big debate pertaining to gun violence and gun control is about enforcing strict policy in terms of giving guns to the mentally ill. In terms of the definition, the number of people considered mentally ill is slightly small due to the government having a difficult time getting the proper mental health records of certain individuals. This is because the mental health treatment community strongly opposes any types of control on this particular population. That is why whenever the government attempts to increase the aggressiveness of gun control laws for the mentally ill, there is a large opposition.
The Importance of Gun Control 