We all have that initial thought, "more guns means more violence." It's intuitive that more guns in our society means the higher chance that some wacko starts shootin' up the place. I mean imagine if everyone had a gun, our society would turn into the wild west, a place of lawlessness that hardly is associated with a safe public.
However, time and time again, it's been shown through research and polling that more guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens, means less crime. Perhaps the most conclusive study (and most frequently cited) was the one conducted by John Lott from the University of Chicago Law School in 1996, which examined all 3,054 counties in the United States and conducted over an 18 year period (1977-1994), determined that there is a negative correlation between violent crimes committed and gun permits issued. Why is this?
Criminals are cowards. Just like the middle school playground bullies, criminals rely on power over the weaker, whether this mean physical size, strength in numbers, or a deadly weapon. By allowing more law-abiding citizens to possess firearms--and even carry them on their person, cripples the criminals' advantage. Even if you have no desire to own a firearm, the laws that allow for concealed-carry benefit you as well, because criminals do not know who is or isn't armed.
But what about schools? Surely the last thing we in society should do is to grant hormonal, drunken college kids the ability to purchase and carry firearms around campus. However there is evidence that also supports the contrary, as reported by the not-so-conservative Boston Globe in the article "A Safer Society with Guns." The article explains that the Colorado Supreme Court struck down the firearms-ban at Colorado University, which was followed by an outcry of terror by some. And I can't blame them, as pro-gun as I am, I even have uneasy feelings about letting college kids carry firearms on them around campus. As a hopeful future neuroscience major, it's easy for me to point out that the pre-frontal cortex, the area of the brain responsible for executive function and decision making, is the last part of the brain to fully develop, which does not happen until the average person's mid-20's. With that said, bad decisions are often made by college-age kids, and the thought of college kids making bad decisions with a firearm is morbid. Add alcohol to the mix and that is a recipe for disaster. However, the article then went on to say that Colorado State University, which allows for students to possess and carry firearms on campus, has experienced a crime rate drop of nearly 60 percent since 2004, whereas Colorado University has experienced a crime rate increase of 35 percent in the same time frame. This research was conducted by the independent think-tank The Cato Institute. Many also point out that college students are sitting ducks without guns, as the nation watched in horror as national news outlets covered the tragedy at Virginia Tech. Many large universities (Virginia Tech included), have their own campus police department. This is to provide safety for the students, however, even on campus police can be minutes away, and when a crisis emerges, a minute can be the difference between a shooter killing a dozen people, and a shooter killing no one.
I cannot end this post without discussing the most recent tragedy of the shooting of Trayvon Martin. Trayvon, a 17 year old black male went to the store, while walking back he was approached, shot, and killed by George Zimmerman, an appointed neighborhood watch captain, with a handgun. Trayvon was not armed, and Zimmerman's reasoning was due to "suspicious activity." Zimmerman pleaded self-defense, which, by all accounts seems very unlikely. This story has swept the nation within the last few days, and I'm sure many gun-control advocates will cite this story as a reason to ban guns. I would like to point out that stories such as these are far more likely to get reported. The number of attacks thwarted by the use of guns by law-abiding citizens ranges widely based off of reports, which is understandable, because people are not likely to report a crime that "almost happened." Unfortunately, "Robbers scared off by gun owner" is not a very exciting headline for media outlets, so it is easy to see all of the harm guns do.
Banning guns doesn't stop the bad guys from getting guns, like everything else that is illegal, if somebody wants to get it, they will, through the black market. All gun bans do is stop the law-abiding citizens, the ones who will use their firearms for self-defense, from equipping themselves with protection, while allowing criminals and thugs to prey on them. As gun sales continually increase across the country, I feel safer and safer. I only hope that one day all states, as our Constitution intends, allow for the concealed carry of firearms.
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