PA Bill Number: HB335
Title: In inchoate crimes, further providing for prohibited offensive weapons.
Description: In inchoate crimes, further providing for prohibited offensive weapons. ...
Last Action: Removed from table
Last Action Date: May 1, 2024
Why gun control does not work :: 08/18/2015
Aurora, Newtown, Chattanooga and Lafayette have all been the settings of dreadful tragedies. Each of these resulted in select politicians, and even President Barrack Obama, demanding gun control across the United States of America.
Some anti-gun activists desire stricter gun laws, while other anti-gun activists have acquired aspirations for a ban on all guns across the nation. They claim that the Second Amendment is outdated, and that we will be safer in the complete absence of firearms. This has been, and continues to be, a popular topic of discussion, especially with the presidential race coming upon us.
This highly debated subject can be summarized into one question: Does gun control work?
The first manner of business in discovering the answer to this question would consist of analyzing the eligible statistics. Our nation’s capital, Washington D.C., enacted some of the strictest gun control laws in the United States. This was known as the Firearms Control Regulations Act of 1975. This act prohibited residents from owning handguns, automatic firearms, and high capacity firearms.
The Supreme Court, in 2008, ruled the act a violation of the Second Amendment, resulting in the regulations being dropped. Within the 33-year time frame that these firearm regulations were being enforced, Washington, D.C. experienced a drastic increase in violent crime. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s crime statistics, Washington, D.C. began enforcing the new regulations with a murder rate of 26 per 100,000 people. During the enforcement of the act, D.C. murder rates reached as high as 81 per 100,000 people. This 212 percent increase in murders is simply the result of residents not possessing the needs and abilities to protect themselves.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Arizona has been widely accepted as the state with the least gun control. Guns and Ammo, an organization committed to providing its audience with gun-related topics, had recently ranked each state according to its friendliness to gun owners. Considering that state-specific gun laws are complex and constantly being altered, Guns and Ammo partnered with the National Rifle Association, National Shooting Sports Foundation, and State Law Enforcement agencies to complete this study.
The ranking criteria consisted of analyzing each state’s regulations on: CCW/Open Carry, MSRs, Class 3/NRA, Castle Doctrine/Stand Your Ground, and miscellaneous. Washington, D.C. ranked in last place, being the least friendly states/district to gun owners. Arizona topped out at first place, possessing the most lenient regulations for gun ownership.
Despite being the most gun-friendly state in America, Arizona contains cities with the some of the lowest murder rates in the country. According to the FBI’s crime statistics on murder rates per 100,000 people in major cities in Arizona, Glendale’s rate is 0.5, Chandler’s is 0.8, Scottsdale’s is 1.8, Tempe’s is 1.8, and Phoenix’s is a whopping 7.8. The juxtaposition between the murder rates of Washington, D.C. and Arizona cities make it evident that gun control increases violent crime.
Washington, D.C.’s gun restrictions invited criminals to rob, rape, and murder residents incapable of defending themselves. There is no way of retrieving a statistic on crimes prevented because of the criminal fearing that the possible victim may have a firearm. However, these statistics certainly debunk the idea of gun control decreasing crime. Although these statistics came at the cost of many innocent lives in cities like D.C., they have proved that gun control does not increase the safety of Americans.
Many cases have occurred in which citizens have had to use their Second Amendment right to defend themselves. On July 25th, Thomas McCarry opened fire at four people in Cincinnati. A 1-year-old boy was among the four.
Patrick Ewing, also being one of the four, had a concealed carry permit.
Ewing managed to return fire, wound the criminal, and defend the other citizens. If Ewing had not possessed the abilities to defend them, the chances of all remaining alive are slim. This heroic act is the result of a civilian exercising his right to bear arms.
Another law-abiding citizen, Amanda Collins, was not so fortunate.
In 2007, Collins was walking in the parking lot of University of Nevada after a night class. Although she had a concealed carry permit, Collins obeyed the law and did not have her handgun, as the campus is a gun free zone. James Biela attacked and raped Amanda Collins. Biela then walked away and murdered 19-year-old Brianna Denison only a few months later. Amanda Collins had said, “I know, having been the first victim, that Brianna Denison would still be alive had I been able to defend myself that night.”
Statistics, evidence, and logic prove that gun control increases violent crime. So why are there so many anti-gun activists? When a robbery is committed, the robber is blamed. When a stabbing occurs, the stabber is blamed. When a drunk driver causes a wreck, the driver is blamed. Thus, placing the blame on a gun rather the person pulling the trigger is absurd.
The answer to why there are so many antigun activists is that many people in America refuse to accept that there is evil in this world. Within the past five years there have been 108 documented cases in which a gun was fired on a school campus. This is the most in a five-year time span that our country has ever seen. Guns have been an American tradition for years. Firearms have been passed to generations, used for Boy Scout merit badges, and have been placed for purchase in sporting stores. Yet all of a sudden, we see more gun violence.
As Americans, we need to understand that our country is on a societal decay. Violence is advocated without any regards to consequence through music, video games and television. behind the gun. They have even gone as far as claiming the Second Amendment to be outdated.
The idea of the founding fathers, who were advocates of the greatest revolutionary movement the world has seen, not pondering the idea of technological advances is foolish. The Second Amendment serves as providing our citizens with a last line of defense against tyranny. It also permits the citizens of America to defend their home and loved ones against criminals.
This right shall not be infringed. History has shown that evil will attack and it is our decision to be prepared for it or let it occur right before our eyes.
Andrew Espinoza is a Barstow High School student with an interest in politics who aspires to win a seat in Congress someday. He has a 4.0 grade-point average, plays varsity football and basketball and is a member of the high school’s marching band.
