I was about to start this blog post with a comment that I'm
not usually political on my blogs, but looking back at the past few posts, I
realize that I am much more political than I thought. I guess that I like to
write about what is on my mind and I like discussing it with people.
Today, the subject I want to focus on is gun control. I am
not going to be writing a piece about which side is better, I want to write and
tell you all about the arguments that BOTH sides use that are flat out
incorrect or they are cherry picking the data for their own use. It is a sin
that is become so common in the TV, social media, and in normal conversation.
People are choosing hyperbole and inflammatory language instead of common sense
and reason (hence both Mister Trump and Senator Sanders are doing so well in
the polls. They are beacons for their side of the inflammatory culture we have
today).
I would ask those who are both pro and anti-gun is “what do
you want to stop?” Violence or violence caused by guns? The reason I ask is
that there is no causal data to show that lowering violence done by guns even
lowers the violence overall (Farley). The United Kingdom has virtually no gun
crimes in their nation BUT they are the highest for violent crimes and that
statement is vague because the United States and the United Kingdom classify
violent crime completely different (Bier).
Every study I found has shown that restricted gun ownership
may lower the amount of violence done with guns, but it has little to no impact
on violent crimes itself (Robertson). The National Research Council has said,
"In summary, the committee concludes that existing research studies and
data include a wealth of descriptive information on homicide, suicide, and
firearms, but, because of the limitations of existing data and methods, do not
credibly demonstrate a causal relationship between the ownership of firearms
and the causes or prevention of criminal violence or suicide."(Wellford,
Pepper, and Petrie 6).
The issue is not gun violence, or sexual violence, or child
violence. It's violence, plain and simple. The pro and anti-gun proponents are
like two firefighters arguing over if a hand held fire hose is more useful to
fighting fires than one hooked in to the city system. Meanwhile, the house is
burning to the ground. We need to focus on what is important. Violence and work
on trying to curb it instead of tools that are used in their commission. You
take away guns, people will still find ways to kill each other. Congratulations
on lowering gun violence, but you still have yet to make a dent in the violence
all around you.
Only when the two mindsets start looking at the preverbal
fire and go, "We need to find a way to fight this" instead of
fighting over which method is better at fighting, we are still going to have
people dying. So, to anti-weapons and pro-weapons, please, stop arguing and
work together.
Works Cited
Bier, Daniel. "By the Numbers: Is the UK Really 5 times
more Violent than the US?" The Skeptical Libertarian. N.p., 12 Jan. 2013.
Web. 12 Jan. 2016. <http://blog.skepticallibertarian.com/2013/01/12/fact-checking-ben-swann-is-the-uk-really-5-times-more-violent-than-the-us/>.
Farley, Robert. "Gun Rhetoric Vs. Gun Facts."
FactCheck.org. N.p., 20 Dec. 2012. Web. 12 Jan. 2016.
<http://www.factcheck.org/2012/12/gun-rhetoric-vs-gun-facts/>.
Robertson, Lori. "Gun Laws, Deaths and Crimes."
FactCheck.org. N.p., 4 Oct. 2015. Web. 12 Jan. 2016.
<http://www.factcheck.org/2015/10/gun-laws-deaths-and-crimes/>.
Wellford, Charles F, John Pepper, and Carol Petrie.
"Executive Summary." Firearms and Violence: A Critical Review. 2nd
ed. Washington: National Academies Press, 2005. 1-10. PDF File.
