Gun Control Making it impossible or at least very difficult to legally own firearms has long been the goal of those who instinctively oppose anything that might get in the way of Big Government, and their gun control proposals are typically defended as a way to reduce violent crime. Evidence on the subject from America and Europe, however, indicates that if the private ownership of firearms is permitted crime rates will not necessarily rise as a result, and they will not necessarily fall when firearm ownership is prohibited. I don't know why liberals want to disarm the law-abiding population, but I do know that not a single argument proffered stands the light of facts. Armed citizens deter far more crimes than the police, and far more lives are saved by the intended victim being armed than are lost in firearm accidents. If liberals can seize our guns because they are dangerous, we have no chance of holding on to our cars and our homes.
More children die from playing with cigarette lighters than from playing with loaded guns.
According to Reynolds, armed citizens deter 1 million crimes each year. In 98 percent of the cases, simply brandishing the weapon or firing a warning shot is sufficient deterrence. In confrontations, criminals succeed in taking the gun away from an armed victim only 1 percent of the time. Armed citizens mistakenly kill innocent people only 30 times a year, compared with 330 mistaken killings by police. One of the favorite stories of those favoring gun control is how the proliferation of guns has turned urban America into the Wild West.