America’s Battle on the Debate over Guns: Do Guns Cause Less or More Crime?

I'm sure you have read this title and said to yourself, "that's a bunch of crap" or "this can't be true" and I don't plan to lay everything out for you or necessarily prove it to you but I have found many (I will only mention a couple) statistics showing that in the U.S where gun ownership is high, crime rates tend to be low as apposed to countries where gun ownership is restricted and the result is a much higher crime rate. This blog is basically me voicing my opinion and how I perceive the facts on guns causing less crime.  

Gun laws and gun ownership has been a controversial topic among politicians, anti-gun groups and gun activists, and continues to be a hot topic today. It has been said and believed for years that the more guns there are, the more crime there will be. Could what has been en-grained in our beliefs be wrong? Could more guns cause less crime? Statistics in the United States show that within a 25-year period between 1973-97, handgun ownership increased 163%, while at this time homicides decreased 27.7% and persistently fell with an increase in gun ownership(Kates). I think that Law-abiding citizens should be allowed to own and carry concealed guns to protect themselves from those who are not law abiding. The statement “guns don’t kill, people kill” is one that is often brought up in the debate on guns. John Lott, a research scientist from the University of Maryland, has done studies showing that the more guns there are, the less crime there is. Lott says that “guns make it easier for bad things to happen, but they also make it easier to prevent bad things from happening”(Lott).


I'm not saying that guns are a good thing because we all know that bad things can happen when guns fall into the wrong hands but the law abiding citizens who take the necessary safety courses should not be penalized by not being able to own a gun for recreational purposes or if needed for protection (within reason and the law) against criminals. Let me know what you think about the issue, don't be shy (but polite) debate is great for the brain! Remember that this information is based only for the U.S and not Canada as for there is no Right-to-Carry laws in Canada.


Trivia of the day: How many U.S states have Right-to-Carry laws?


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Jenn