The human mind has gone through many phases of developmental changes. On reaching the part where it recognized how to comprehend ideas and the capacity of reasoning, he started questioning several issues around him. One such issue that became a thought-provoking topic was that of Gun Control. The matter has been a subject of much dispute amongst the people of America because, in the past, the usage of guns was not restricted by any rule or law but since man has realized the number of crimes that co-exist with it, it was decided to control it. This gave rise to a heated debate because many thought that restrictions on guns meant a compromise on their safety, something they were not ready to agree on. They argued that the answer to the gun problem is to give guns to the law abiding and responsible citizens of America rather than taking them away from them. People and other law enforcement bodies, share the view that guns are used for stopping criminals from committing crimes, and to prove this statement right, Gold includes a report by the U.S. government that figured 100,000 crimes that are prevented by ordinary citizens per year (Gold 2004). Gun control has been a matter of debate in the United States of America with one group advocating the benefits of strong gun control laws whereas the others arguing against the implementation of these laws.

Gun Control in United States: A controversial Issue

The subject of Gun control has become a controversial and an emotional issue for the people of America. There are two views regarding the subject. The advocates of gun control who stress that guns increase the level of crime while the gun supporters argue that the absence of guns will result in more deaths and facilitate murder (Sieberg 2005).

Pros: The advocates of Gun Control

Gun control supporters argue that more guns mean more deaths in the society and should be removed from the country immediately. They believe that people who own guns are more likely to kill their friends or a family member rather than an outsider. This view was shared by Dr. Kellermann who further said that people with guns use it against their families and close relations 43 times more than using it on an intruder. The former President of United States, Bill Clinton, too was an advocate of gun control and stated that 13 children die per day of gun inflicted wounds and the level of suicide, homicide and domestic violence increases with the availability of guns. Mass murders like 1999 Columbine High School and California shooting all took place because of the easy availability of guns the to the general public. It is argued by supporters of gun control that tightly controlled availability of guns can reduce the level of crime and is important for public safety as well (Chambliss 2011).

Cons: Advocates of Gun Rights

The advocates of gun rights present a different argument regarding the matter stating that crimes take place because the law abiding citizens can no longer protect themselves as they are not allowed to own guns. They cite studies by Gary Kleck and Marc Gertz. According to the results of this study, guns are used in defense between 2.2 and 2.5 times a year. The National Rifle Association on the other hand, publishes stories from around the world on its website that deal with citizens “successfully rebuffing and incapacitating criminals with their handguns” (Chambliss 2011). Economists as John R. Lott argued that the efforts of Legislation to restrict gun control ownership have denied many citizens from protecting themselves. He grafted out a figure that showed the average number of violent crimes before the adoption of law and what was seen was a drastic rise in the level of crime after the implementation of strong gun control laws. He gave reasons for criticizing the law and his findings by the analysis of FBI’s annual statistics of crime provided strong results to support his claim. He explained that those states in the United States where laws of gun control were relaxed had the lowest rate of crime in comparison to other states. It was further seen that the usage of guns was greater for self-protection rather than for committing crimes and statistics also revealed that there was no strong benefit obtained from the strong gun control laws (Skousen 2008). A study regarding murder rates in the American states was conducted in the year 2004 by the “U.S National Academy of Sciences”. At the end of the study, it was analyzed that gun control failed to reduce any violent crime, suicides or any other gun related accident. This study was based on “253 journal articles, 99 books, 43 government publications, and some other original empirical research” (Kates & Mauser 2007).