Does Gun Control Really Reduce Violent Crime?

Proponents of gun control argue that it is the only way to reduce violent crime. This is simply not true. If it really were true, then there wouldn’t be any violent crime, and yet we all know this is not the case. So why doesn’t gun control reduce violent crime?

Gun Control Doesn’t Work

There are tens of thousands of gun control laws on the books at the various federal, state, and local levels. Despite all of this regulation, violence and crime still happen every single day in the United States. That’s because, by their very definition, acts of violence and crime are already illegal whether they use a gun or not. Killing or seriously injuring someone is still illegal whether committed with a gun or a hammer.

Criminals Don’t Obey the Law

Laws only apply to those who obey them. If someone is going to break a law – any law – then it doesn’t matter what it is that the law is prohibiting them from doing. We’ve all seen countless news stories where “prohibited persons” (people who are, by law, forbidden from possessing guns) have committed robberies or shootings or other acts of wanton violence. Under the rule of our government, these people were already breaking the law by simply having a gun, and yet it didn’t stop them from finding a way to illegally obtain a gun and commit more crimes.

Again, it cannot be stressed enough: criminals don’t obey the law – that’s why they’re criminals. Imposing even more laws does nothing to hinder criminals. Instead, it only hobbles law-abiding citizens from protecting themselves.

Gun-Free Zones Don’t Work

What do almost all mass shootings – and all school shootings – have in common? They took place in gun-free zones. Have you ever wondered why that is the case? It’s because gun-free zones ensure that law-abiding people are disarmed. If a criminal knows that their victims will be unarmed, then it makes them all easy targets. The criminal doesn’t have to worry about anyone fighting back with a legally-possessed firearm.

If this still doesn’t make sense, let’s look at it another way. When was the last time you heard of someone going into a gun range or store and trying to shoot up the place? Incidents like that are incredibly few and far between. Why? Because almost everyone in there is armed! Not all criminals are dumb. If they know there’s a good chance of getting shot and killed, then they will probably move on to a different target.

Less Guns Equal Less (Gun) Crime

Cities like New York and Chicago have strict gun laws, and yet they have incredibly high murder rates – mostly with guns. Countries like England and Australia have strict gun control measures in place. Very few people own guns there, and yet people still get killed all the time. In 2019, Australia had just 39 homicides committed with guns. However, they still experienced 244 homicides overall. That means that guns accounted for just 15.9% of all homicides that year. Their residents are beaten, stabbed, bombed, etc … but they are rarely shot. This makes sense given that there are fewer guns in those countries than in the United States. Still, though, they are being killed. Dead is dead; why the weapon used matters is beyond me. That brings us to the next point.

Violence is Still a Problem

Unfortunately, the world has evil people in it, and some of them are hell-bent on carrying out their plans of violence against their fellow human beings. No amount of laws or restrictions can stop this from happening since humans have been killing each other in a variety of ways since the beginning of time – millennia before the advent of guns.

So that brings us back to the beginning. Gun control does not reduce violent crime. It may reduce gun crime, but not violent crime. Sadly, where there’s a will, there’s a way, and criminals will do harm to their victims any way they can. We’ve seen this play out among felons and in countries with strict gun control.

We don’t have a gun problem. We have a violence problem.