The Equality Argument For Gun Control- An Affirmative View

Those who are against gun control claim that it denounces our liberty as American citizens. Those who are pro-gun control have used public safety as their main argument, yet they have failed to convince federal government to increase restrictions on guns for the past 20 years.  However, what people aren’t that aware of is that the pro-gun control debate can be supported with another aspect of this issue: equality. With this argument, gun control advocates can focus on the relationship between guns and inequality and can argue that stricter restrictions for guns is an important step towards social justice and economic empowerment. The article The Equality Argument For Gun Control, sheds light on the concept equality and its relation to gun control.

Guns create inequality in our country because it tends to increase violence and instability for those who live in low income communities. It has been found that violent crime rates are higher in certain areas. The widespread availability of guns makes it easier to commit more crime and lead to more destruction. In July of 2016, 82 people were shot in Chicago and most of them were a part of the South Side community, where crime rates are 10 times higher than wealthy areas of the city. When comparing the wealth of two particular areas, it is clear that areas with high income are less likely to experience violent crime. Economic inequality plays a role in the prevalence of gun violence. It occurred to me, after reading this article, that certain people are more susceptible to either committing or being victim to gun violence simply based on demographics. When anti-gun control politicians argue in favor of guns it is biased view. Wealthy, white politicians are less likely to encounter gun violence in their life; therefore, it is not fair that their voice is the only one heard in the government. Citizens in Chicago, for example, should be able to voice their opinions during this debate. If there is a more diverse group of people controlling the legislation, there may be extreme change in regard to gun control. The inequality that occurs in our country may be unknowingly fueling gun violence

Gun violence is related to inequality due to the notion that particular groups of people fall victim to these shootings more than others. Unfortunately, every American can be a victim of one of these heinous crimes, however, mass shooters have targeted marginalized groups in the past. These groups include women, children, and religious and racial minorities. These groups do not have the power, resources, or influence to help enforce stricter gun laws. They become the victim due to the lack of restrictions that our country has and the underlying issue of inequality. These violent massacres stem from hateful people who are guilty of anti-Semitism, racism, sexism, and other social discriminations. Guns are too easily accessible and make these crimes deadlier.

“When it comes to gun policy, the equal protection of the law must be no less important than the right to bear arms.”

Gun control has been continuously debated and the population in favor uses their freedom to own a weapon as their main argument. The debate has always been between the right to bear arms and the dangers of the weapon itself, however, it needs to be reevaluated to discuss the issue of inequality within our country. The danger of gun violence is not distributed equally in our society, therefore a small group of people in government should not control the laws for the entirety of the United States. Low income neighborhoods and minority groups are at more of a risk to be victims of these crimes than others. This aspect of the gun control debate must be discussed in order to move forward with creating new policies.

We Don’t Need the 2nd Amendment — We Need a Real Debate About Guns

Unfortunately, every single time there is a tragic shooting in our country, anti gun control advocates resort to our 2nd Amendment right to bear arms as their most powerful tool in the debate against gun control. This article written by Timothy William Waters explains how the 2nd Amendment ends all discussion on the issue. He states that he heard an expert close a debate by shouting, “Too bad, it’s in the Constitution!” Through explanation and historical evidence, Waters explains that because of the serious disagreement about whether guns protect liberty or threaten it, Americans should be focusing on our responsibility to consider not just what the Constitution says, but what it should say regarding gun control. He claims that we do not need an amendment protecting or prohibiting guns, we just need the Constitution to be indifferent, so it allows for a proper debate in which the issues are truly spoken about, and not just our 2nd Amendment right.  Waters states, “There are good reasons to limit guns, and to have them. But the 2nd Amendment isn’t one of those reasons.”

A Criminologist’s Case Against Gun Control: A Refutation View

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.