Essay On Gun Restrictions

Gun Rights Supporters’ Arguments Given all the research findings of positive effects of gun control policies, some people still oppose strict regulations on firearms. For example, one argument proposed by the gun rights supporters is that although states with stricter gun control policies tend to have a lower firearm suicide rate, they also have higher rates of suicide by “other means” (Lester and Murrell, 131). Nonetheless, gun control does reduce the overall suicide rate in the U.S. According to Lester and Murrell, both the availability-accessibility theory and the evidence against the substitution of means theories can account for the reason why gun restrictions lead to fewer suicides (131). First, the availability-accessibility theory

It seems to be very plausible that criminals can still illegally trade firearms even under strict gun regulations, and law-abiding citizens cannot protect themselves when they don’t have access to guns. Yet, there are two logical fallacies tied to this argument. First, gun control policies do not necessarily deprive the rights to owning a gun for law-abiding citizens. For instance, under the strict background check system, people with clean criminal records are still able to acquire a permit to purchase guns and protect themselves when incidents happen. Second, as Michael Boylan wrote in his book, since a large number of gun owners do not regularly use their guns, they are not prepared enough to cope with dangerous situations (130). In cases like armed robbery, these law-abiding gun owners tend to have a false impression that they are able to use guns properly but fail to protect their safety when dealing with criminals. On the contrary, if they don’t rely on this incorrect apprehension, they would be able to seek other forms of risk control. Thus, law-abiding citizens are able to protect themselves even with stringent gun control