The Case FOR The Right to Bear Arms

 America's murder rate and gun violence seems to be an ongoing discussion that doesn't get resolution.  What is the truth?

Just recently a UK reporter claimed America should be more like the UK and get rid of guns, implying stricter gun laws would curb violence. But UK has. huge knife killing problem. 

• Chicago’s strict gun laws did not stop that city’s murders average 10 per week, and they are known to have some of the strictest gun laws in the country. 
• South of our border is Mexico, where it is almost impossible for citizen to own a gun, but the drug cartels, similar to American gangs have plenty of illegal guns and similar to Chicago gangs kill at an alarming rate.

CNN said, "The indisputable fact is that where there are more guns, there are more gun deaths." But what CNN left out was the critical contextual facts.  

The Gun Control Act of 1968 and the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (1993) created nationwide requirements that make it more difficult to obtain a firearm.  In 2016 The Bureau of Justice Statistics examined how prison inmates obtained the firearms they used during crimes found that only about 10% obtained their firearms at a store affected by the gun laws.  

Criminals who go through illegal avenues to purchase firearms aren't going to be crazy enough to submit to  background checks while planning their crime. 

Only law-abiding citizens would be impacted by expanded background checks.  

The Heritage Foundation stated, "Here are eight stubborn facts to keep in mind about gun violence in America:

1. Violent crime is down and has been on the decline for decades.
2. The principal public safety concerns with respect to guns are suicides and illegally owned handguns, not mass shootings.
3. A small number of factors significantly increase the likelihood that a person will be a victim of a gun-related homicide.
4. Gun-related murders are carried out by a predictable pool of people.
5. Higher rates of gun ownership are not associated with higher rates of violent crime.
6. There is no clear relationship between strict gun control legislation and homicide or violent crime rates.
7. Legally owned firearms are used for lawful purposes much more often than they are used to commit crimes or suicide.
8. Concealed carry permit holders are not the problem, but they may be part of the solution.

Guns: Suicides by gun accounted for about six of every 10 firearm deaths in 2010 and just over half of all suicides, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  We all know it doesn't take a gun to commit suicide.  

Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health Study (2016) found that in approximately 8 out of 10 cases, the perpetrator was not a lawful gun owner but rather in illegal possession of a weapon that belonged to someone else.

If 80% of guns are illegally when used committing crimes, and half of all gun deaths are suicides, it doesn't that doesn't leave a lot for murders committed by legally purchased guns. 

Guns Mattered

The American Revolution resulting in America's could not have happened without an armed citizens.. The U.S. Army was outgunned and often outmaneuvered but persevered and is arguably the world's greatest country ever as a result. And oh by the way we defeated an army that invaded nine out of 10 of the world’s countries, making it the largest empire in the history of the world.

Peter Leeson, a professor of economics and law at George Mason University, contends that the ownership of weapons led to more stability and monarchs abused power less frequently. Society respected the rights of the lower classes much more broadly.

Celebrities and politicians form the elite class that love to legislate others out of rights where they get to enjoy the rights their money and power affords.  

You can use data to make persuasive arguments against gun ownership.  But history is the best teacher for why citizens should outlawing guns.  The Soviets and Nazis taught us that taking guns away is the easy way to control the population.  

But what was instrumental in taking down the Soviet Union?  

"The gun culture of Afghanistan is as strong as any on the planet. The Afghans had a long tradition of expert gunsmithing. Using tools inferior to those in the Sears catalogue, Afghan gunsmiths began turning out home-made versions of the Soviet army's Kalashnikov rifles. Pakistani gunsmiths across the border found a lucrative business in selling home-made guns to the rebels."-Dave Kopel

 After 10 years of humiliation finally the Soviets gave up and left Afghanistan alone, leading to the collapse of the Soviet Union. 

The bottom line in America is that gun ownership will live on no matter what law is passed.