By Joe Skoog ’13
THE ROUNDUP
The idea of a government taking away citizens’ guns may strike some as an inherent invasion of liberty.
However, this is simply not true. While there may be other attacks on freedom by the government, in this instance it can be good.
I will say that yes, anti-gun control advocates are correct that the government cannot solve all problems. But limiting the availability of guns is a necessary first step in alleviating problems such as violence and rampant shootings.
In fact, gun control can help stop crime. While many who oppose this stance say that those who commit crimes would not respect the law in the first place and then be able to use an illegal firearm against an unarmed person, this view simply takes responsibility for violence out of our hands.
Even if gun control may be difficult, this does not mean it still should not be pursued.
Furthermore, gun control legislation can allow for a recognition of why guns are purchased illegally in the first place and why people are forced into crime.
Through further government policy-making, advances can be made to combat both poverty and violence that occur.
Advocates also say that people have to be able to defend themselves.
This argument is simply not a justification for stopping legislation to make it more difficult for people to acquire weaponry.
The need to defend oneself is constantly created in binary opposition to those who threaten certain freedoms.
Pointing out an amorphous blob of “rule-breakers” only perpetuates stereotypes and attitudes that push people into crime initially.
Of course, not everyone uses their guns for killing or for self-defense, and people use this as an analogy to a butter knife. Butter knifes are used for eating and not stabbing and guns are used for sport not shooting people.
However, butter knifes are not bullets, and the lethal nature of a gun is something that is not comparable.
The common saying is that guns don’t kill people, people kill people. But it is people with guns who kill other people.
Gun control legislation may only be an initial step, but it is a necessary one. The ability to get guns, legal or otherwise, is something that must be changed.
Even if making guns illegal is hard, that does not mean that it is intrinsically tied to an inability to stop crime from occurring.
Instead, we should promote policies that stop crime, allow for community outreach, and attempt to create a world where carrying a weapon for self-defense is no longer necessary for any person.
