An article published by the Congressional Digest in May of 1986 asks the important question: “Do criminals commit crimes or do guns commit crimes?” At this point in the 1900’s crimes committed with the use of guns was increasingly higher than it is today. This article served to highlight the ideals between both those advocating for gun rights and those against it. After it was acknowledged that guns themselves cannot commit a crime without an individual present, the U.S. Government decided to relax the laws it had put in place against owning a gun. This in turn seems to have favored America. Deaths caused by the use of a gun, though still high, started to decrease. The reason for this was that more people owned guns and the popular argument: “the only thing stopping a bad guy with a gun, is a good guy with a gun” seemed to be true. The majority of people are afraid of guns. They should be. Guns are dangerous if they are put in the wrong hands. Realizing this, the government has required different forms of background checks in each state. Felons or anyone addicted to an unlawful substance are banned under federal statute to purchase a gun. According to Journal of Urban Health in April, 2014, “To identify prohibited persons as they attempt to acquire firearms, the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act requires that a background check be performed for purchases from federal firearms licensees (FFLs) such as firearms dealers and pawnbrokers. In 2010, federal and state agencies conducted 10.4 million background checks; more than 150,000 purchases were denied when background checks found the buyers to be prohibited persons.” Of course, this doesn’t necessarily mean we have kept guns out of every ‘bad’ person’s hands. Background checks don’t prevent a credible person from buying a gun and then giving it to someone who wouldn’t be considered as credible. However, the article serves to show those who advocate for gun control that certain stipulations are already in place and that they are effective. According to an article published in July of 2013, written by Wodarz, Dominik and Natalia L. Komarova, approximately thirty percent of adults/households own a gun. Within this article, there is mathematical data showing various scenarios involving guns and the outcome of those scenarios. The authors of this article created a formula to predict what would happen in different scenarios involving a gun. For example, they estimated that if you carry a gun, and are confronted by someone with a …show more content…
Statistics are far more favorable towards gun control, but logic dictates that we are safer by having gun rights. Not only is our individual freedom at stake, but the right to protect ourselves is at stake. And yet, by advocating for guns, we are seeing increasing gun-related deaths. The topic of gun control versus gun rights is so deep and so complex, we may never find the right answer. Those who research this topic should be aware of the rights the Second Amendment gives us and the controversy surrounding it. The topic of gun control versus gun rights, is so much broader and more complex than discussed in this