Gun Control

My argument is clear. Guns should be accessible to law-abiding citizens rather than the civil disobedient. My view on gun control in general is a ban on all assault weapons and other high caliber weaponry while imposing strict regulations on the registry and sale of handguns.Rebuttals “I would like to receive an actual peer reviewed study that shows that the supposed fact that 50% of American households have a gun prevents home invasions.” There is no study on this particular statistic because this is just common sense. My opponent fails to recognize that this can be a deterrent for home invasions. People will always think before entering a home given that every other home is armed with a firearm. You quoted that homeowners are more likely to be involved in a fatal or non-fatal accidental shooting. This statistic may indeed be correct, however, the assaults and suicide attempts do not correlate with whether or not firearms are accessible in the home. If someone wanted to commit suicide they will find ways to do so. Just like the homicide theory. People will find other ways, just because they don’t have a firearm at hand doesn't means they will not commit those acts. “My opponents claim that the United Kingdom is statistically worse that the United States and South Africa concerning violent crime is flat out false.” I had stated that the UK is the most violent country in Europe. Including non-violent crime, statistically there is more crime in the UK for every 1000 people than the US. Taking into consideration that the US population is far higher than the UK, crime rate is shown per 1000 people. http://www.ons.gov.uk... “The rates of murder in Chicago and Detroit don't prove that gun control doesn't work, they underline the need for stricter federal regulations. The study I am about to cite looks at where the guns used to commit these murders in Chicago, Illinois are purchased. "More than half of these guns " nearly 10,000 or almost 58 percent " originate from outside the state of Illinois. More than 3,000 guns come from Indiana, and another 1,000-plus come from Mississippi".[5]” My point exactly. Since an all out gun ban is off the table this will be likely to happen all around the US. Considering that there are around 300 million guns, an all out gun ban is not feasible to be successful. You take the guns away from the law-abiding citizens then they will be unable to defend themselves. Criminals will always find ways to obtain firearms, whether firearms are heavily regulated or banned. “The idea that when a shooting is going on and everyone is in shock, we need more guns in the area that could just as easily be used to kill even more people, accidentally or not just doesn't make sense. For example, how do we know that the armed guards you are proposing are immune to mental instability?” There will be a psychological test and other testing done prior to employment. Your statement says clearly that everyone is or will be mentally unstable one point in their lives Is simply not true. It seems you can’t distinguish between the mentally stable and the mentally unstable, the good guys and the bad guys. Those who are mentally unstable are usually diagnosed at a young age due to birth defects or problems during their childhood. A physiological test should scrape out the unstable. Arguments Like I have stated in past rounds, guns are used to deter many crimes and have resulted in less crime all together. A study done by Department of Economics, Quinnipiac University had shown that states with shall issue CCW laws had less crime than states with stricter gun laws. Found that ‘shall issue’ laws resulted in a 7.65% drop in murders and a 5% drop in rapes. “Research suggests that individuals would be less likely to commit crimes if they knew that many others may be carrying concealed weapons.” http://www.tandfonline.com... Also more studies have shown that gun control doesn’t reduce murder rates.A Study conducted by Harvard Universit, “Would Banning Firearms Reduce Murder and Suicide? A Review of International and Some Domestic Evidence” in the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy. The study revealed several European countries with significant gun ownership, like Norway, Finland, Germany and France had low murder rates. The study found no evidence to suggest that the availability of guns contributes to higher murder rates anywhere in the world. http://www.law.harvard.edu... Final Arguments The availability of obtaining firearms will result to more murder rates/attempts is a common misconception with no evidence or statistics backing the claim. Sounds reasonable to a lot of gun control advocates, but this is simply not the case. The US has more than 300 million guns, with a black market in these already developed. It will be impossible to find a reasonable piece of gun control legislation that will actually be successful. Gun related crime is 100% on the person behind the gun. Guns don’t talk, don’t move, don’t shoot randomly. People don’t blame knives when someone Is killed by one.