Gun "Control"

I’m not one to try and force my political opinions on others because I know how annoying that can be. For that reason I usually don’t share my political opinions except with family or close friends. Since a lot of people, however, seem to be talking about the gun control issue and because I work next to guns on a daily basis— though be it very large and old ones—I thought I would share my view on gun control from the perspective of history. The idea of the present learning from the past is so important and should be considered no less when looking at the issue of gun control. First of all, like any good historian we must make sure we are using the correct terms. After all our aim is to be accurate, and yes, pun intended. The widely used labels “assault weapons” and “high capacity magazines” are nothing more than media-manufactured terms. The “assault weapons” are ordinary semiautomatic rifles — not machine guns — identical in function to rifles that have been in use for more than a century. The “high capacity magazines” are actually standard magazines that have been manufactured for more than 70 years.

So let’s look at what has been done about gun control in the past by considering California and New York City which have some of the strictest gun laws in the country. Stricter gun laws in California started in earnest with the Roberti-Roos Assault Weapons Control Act of 1989. Yet these laws have not kept guns out of the hands of criminals and they have not significantly lowered gun crimes. New York City has had strict gun control laws since 1911, yet it also ranks among the most dangerous places in the country and large numbers of killings by gun still occur. If stricter gun laws haven’t worked at the civic or state level then why would it work at the federal level? A study conducted in 2009 by the Center for Disease Control found “insufficient evidence” that gun laws did anything to prevent gun violence. America needs to focus on what is really at the heart of many mass shootings. I am in favor of finding an effective way to monitor those who have a history of mental illness or making violent threats in order to prevent them from obtaining guns. The whole issue of mental health is something that needs to be re-examined in America, but banning certain kinds of guns or making it harder for everyone to buy a gun is not the answer. There is no evidence that restrictive gun control laws would have any deterrent effect on street gangs or other gun-wielding criminals who are already operating outside the law. It could instead encourage an illicit trade in firearms--much as anti-drug laws have sustained the lucrative illegal drug trade.

In the end, past attempts to lower violence through stricter guns laws suggest that more gun control laws would only mean revisiting the same failed policies while infringing on the rights and lives of millions of law-abiding gun owners. Americans would exchange no improvement to public safety for fewer individual liberties which is just not acceptable.

I would like to end my thoughts with a quote from my all-time favorite actor, Charlton Heston. “There's no such thing as a good gun. There's no such thing as a bad gun. A gun in the hands of a bad man is a very dangerous thing. A gun in the hands of a good person is no danger to anyone except the bad guys.”

Below you can see what a gun in my hands looks like. A little over a week ago I went shooting for the first time. It's something I have wanted to try for a long time but never had the opportunity. The instructor said I did very well for a first-time shooter. Watch out bad guys…or at least paper guys.