Photo by: Henoc Kivuye
Most are familiar with the theory that tighter gun control could result in fewer violent crimes, but a recent study seeks to prove this is not the case. In fact, according to the Harvard Study, “Would Banning Firearms Reduce Murder and Suicide?” by Awr Hawkins, increasing firearm regulations could result in a higher death rate.
This past year saw an increase in gun sales, possibly linked to the December 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings. According to “Gun Sales Hit New Record, Ammo Boom to Follow,” a January 2014 Washington Times article, gun sales increased as Congress debated whether to impose more gun restrictions. This increase led to a roughly eight percent increase of criminal applications received through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System in 2013.
For 2014, predictions of ammunition sales see an increase as Congress attempts to find more ways to regulate gun and ammo purchases.
Students and professors at Oklahoma Christian University have dissenting opinions on possible increases in gun restriction laws.
“With the recent shootings, I think Congress should have less gun control,” senior Austin Lowry said. “Let more people have guns to protect themselves. There’s no way to ever get rid of all the guns. If you could disarm everybody in America, disarm the entire American military at the snap of your fingers, then that would be fine and it would work; but that is never going to happen and it can never happen.”
The Second Amendment states that every citizen has the right to bear arms.
“I absolutely think that Second Amendment rights are sacred and there is a very good reason why they are in the Constitution,” Burt Smith, professor of marketing and management said. “I don’t think that Congress could ever take away guns from the citizens, and I don’t think that the citizens would comply.”
Lowry attributes the problem of increased violence over the years to a lack of available law enforcement. The average response time for the police to come to an emergency is 15 minutes, according to “Police forces are Taking up to 30% Longer to React to 999 Calls,” a 2013 article from The Bureau of Investigative Journalism. Lowry’s solution is to have more citizens with legally obtained guns, reducing those minutes.
Senior Colby Woods agrees with this train of thought.
“The Supreme Court has ruled several times that the police have no duty to provide services to any citizen,” Woods said. “The police do not have to respond when you call them during an emergency. This is why it is important to have a means of protecting yourself. There is no self-defense weapon more effective than a firearm.”
One argument for less gun control is that police could be overwhelmed.
“There is simply not enough law enforcement for citizens,” Lowry said. “If we could have more citizens within the law, and with legally obtained firearms, and they knew how to use them, then that will equal less crime because now you have more policing, you have more enforcement within the per capita.”
The concept of whether a criminal will “play by the rules” frequently comes into gun control debates.
“I think the notion that if you regulate guns it will keep [guns] out of the bad guy’s hands … is very misguided,” Smith said. “I don’t think telling a criminal it’s illegal to have a gun is going to keep the criminal from having a gun.”
There may never be a clear answer as to whether or not gun ownership will have an effect on crime.
“When it comes down to it, shootings happens a lot,” Lowry said. “Our world is full of violence and unfortunately there’s nothing we can do about that. We can try to make the world a better place, but obviously violence is still there.”
0
0
Be First to Comment