Blog: Guns Aren’t the Problem, People Are the Problem.

Last Wednesday, I read a post from a fellow blogger about guns and why – in his opinion – they need to be banned. He told the story about how his friend who had immigrated to America had been killed in a shooting and talked about how many people had been killed in shootings. The comments on this post were predictable, with people lamenting about how America allows people to so easily buy guns (something I’ll talk about) and how “scary” guns are. One person even went so far as to say that America should stop making guns altogether, something that is as ridiculous as it is impossible for our country’s survival in the 21st century. This got me thinking and has inspired me to write my own post about guns, coming from a conservative perspective.

#1: Guns Aren’t Easy to Buy

Back in 2021, my parents bought a gun for home defense. They bought it online, and while there is a common misconception that it’s easy to buy a gun without any background or mental health checks, think again. My dad, a Marine Corps veteran who’s a law-abiding citizen and has never had any mental health problems, still had to wait close to a month to acquire that gun, and that’s just in the state that I live in. In other states with stricter laws on gun ownership, people have reported it taking up to three months or longer to get one. The only time when it’s easy to get a gun is when someone gives it to you (a friend, family member, or other) or if you get it illegally.

#2: Most Criminals are Getting Their Guns Illegally

According to a survey done in 2004 (which was the most recent survey I could find, unfortunately) by the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics in which inmates of federal and state prisons were surveyed, in 13 states where gun laws were laxer, 40% of criminals obtained their guns illegally with only 13% obtaining them from a store. Additionally, in 37 states where the laws were harsher, the number of illegal guns jumped up to 60%. ( https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2018/mar/12/john-faso/do-illegal-gun-owners-commit-most-gun-crime-rep-fa/) From that statistic, it should be more obvious that states with tighter gun laws are punishing the wrong people.

#3: Gun Related Suicides vs. Homicides vs. Other

Most gun deaths aren’t homicides, but are rather suicides, usually committed by older males. As of 2021, the CDC reported that 54% of firearm deaths were suicides, with 43% being homicides (sadly, I couldn’t find the percentage of how many homicides were in self-defense). The other 3% included being shot accidentally, by military actions, or by law enforcement (https://usafacts.org/data-projects/firearms-suicides).

I’ve seen several people cite this as being a reason why we need to ban firearms, but I strongly disagree. A gun is merely a tool as much as a knife is. We have only to look at other countries such as Japan – a place where it’s near impossible to own a gun, yet they still have the highest suicide rate in the world – to know that if a person truly wants to take their life, they’ll do it with or without a gun.

#4: Gun Deaths vs. Other Forms of Death Historically

Historically speaking, knives and brute force have claimed more lives than guns ever have. Even today, the number of deaths related to beatings is higher than the number of deaths related to rifles, the main firearm that the government is seeking to ban. Where does this statistic come from? It comes from data compiled by the FBI in 2020 and the stats can be found here: https://www.statista.com/statistics/195325/murder-victims-in-the-us-by-weapon-used/.

#5: Shootings and the Impact of Social Media

Ever since the dawn of social media, fatal shootings have become more and more common. If you look at statistics from 2020 during the height of the Black Lives Matter movement, there were 19,000 gun-related deaths and 600 mass shootings, making it one of the deadliest years on record (FYI, a mass shooting is considered that if four or more people are killed in the same shooting spree). (https://time.com/5922082/2020-gun-violence-homicides-record-year/) On top of that, in 2023, a woman identifying as a male shot up a Christian school in Nashville, and, as her motives have slowly been coming to light thanks to reporting from the Dailywire, it’s clear that her crime stemmed from her belief that she had gender dysphoria.

The reason for this, I believe, is that people nowadays have not only been conditioned to believe that they are victims and anyone who says otherwise is a genocidal bigot, but they have also been conditioned to do anything for fame or notoriety. When you combine these two things, you end up getting people who will do anything to be famous or become a martyr for their cause. You have no further to look at this than the recent assassination attempt and the Left’s mourning of the shooter to see this.

On top of that, social media has also made it a lot easier for criminals to initiate illegal gun sales. Two years ago, a few blocks down the way from my house, a 14-year-old boy was beaten, shot, and stabbed to death while trying to sell a gun to another boy who he had known from a previous school and met again on Instagram. And this is only one example of this. Social media use amongst criminals trying to sell things like drugs, guns, people, etc. has become very popular, so much so that detectives will often look through suspects’ social media accounts to look for evidence.

Lastly, in the communities where gun violence is the most common, many of the victims are disproportionately Black and Hispanic. I believe that a lot of this can be traced back to the glorification of violence that permeates a lot of the media that is targeted towards that audience. From a very young age, minority kids are often exposed to music that glorifies drugs, prostitution, gang violence, and other things. As music shapes much of our perception of the world and can even play a part in shaping our morality, it’s not surprising that Black and Hispanic communities are the most affected by gun violence.

#6: A Well-Armed Community is Safer Than a Vulnerable One

This is common sense. People are less likely to try to shoot where they know that they, too have a high likelihood of being shot themselves. While it’s true that in states with laxer gun laws that there is a higher rate of death from shooting accidents and suicide, it’s also true that if you have several good people with guns, you can stop several bad guys with guns.

Conclusion:

As I mentioned before, two years ago, a 14-year-old was beaten, stabbed, and shot to death a few blocks from my house during an illegal gun sale. During the community meeting that ensued to talk about what had happened and what steps the city district would take to make sure the people were safe, everyone was very obviously shaken up. Many of them had lived in the neighborhood for years and had never thought that such a crime would affect them. While there haven’t been any more murders, crime has gone up since then. More and more people have reported finding needles and other drug paraphernalia on paths and in gutters. Others (mostly female) have reported being followed and even attacked by suspicious individuals while on walks. More recently, there was a report about a man approaching a group of kids and trying to lure them into his car. And I could go on and on about some other neighbors that have lived here who we steered clear of whenever we could.

As a female, this concerns me quite a bit. Though I know a few self-defense techniques, even with pepper spray, I wouldn’t be able to fight a man, much less one who’s twice my size. I can’t carry a firearm due to my age and even if I was over 21, the county I live in doesn’t allow concealed carry. Gun laws that were advertised as targeting violent criminals are instead affecting people who would never commit a crime in their life and are turning us into sitting ducks, vulnerable and at the mercy of an attacker. It’s no longer the person that’s wielding the gun that is feared, but rather the gun itself. This misunderstanding has left us scared and, in many cases, unwilling to hear the truth about guns, which is a sad mistake. It’s people that are the problem, not the gun.

Until next time,

M.J.