Gun Control has been a heavily discussed topic over the past few years in America. With all of the mass shootings and deaths by firearms recently, many people feel as though there

should be more gun laws in place making it harder for people to legally purchase guns. However, gun control laws are unnecessary because criminals obtain guns illegally, gun control laws put law abiding citizens in danger, and the Constitution grants us the right to bear arms and it is held up by the Supreme Court.

In the gun control fact sheet for 2004, created by the GOA (Gun Owners of America), it states that firearms are used about 2.5 million times for protection against criminals (almost seven thousand times a day). This means that four  out of every five times a gun is used, it is used in self defense against criminals versus being used for the taking of lives. Also, in America there is an ample amount of firearms owned. In fact writer, Michael Snyder states, “ The United States is #1 in the world in gun ownership, and yet it is only 28th in the world in gun murders per 100,000 people.” Therefore proving that the amount of guns owned in the U.S does not affect the crime rate.  Michael also states that, “The city of Chicago has some of the strictest gun laws in the United States.  So has this reduced crime?  Of course not.  As I wrote about recently, the murder rate in Chicago was about 17 percent higher in 2012 than it was in 2011, and Chicago is now considered to be “the deadliest global city“.  If you can believe it, there were about as many murders in Chicago during 2012 as there was in the entire nation of Japan.” This fact proves that gun control laws are unnecessary. Also, every mass-shooting since 1950 (except one) took place somewhere in which citizens were not  permitted to carry firearms. These facts show how irrelevant gun control laws really are. Therefore, gun control laws are unnecessary in the sense of preventing crime. Criminals are criminals; they are already planning on doing something illegal with firearms, so why wouldn't a criminal obtain/purchase their guns illegally? Editor in Chief at NRA American Hunter, J. Scott Olmstead explains that in a 1997 Justice Department survey of more than 18,000 state and federal convicts revealed the truth; 39.6% of criminals obtained a gun from a friend or family member, 39.2% of criminals obtained a gun on the street or from an illegal source, 0.7% of criminals purchased a gun at a gun show, 1% of criminals purchased a gun at a flea market, and 3.8% of criminals purchased a gun from a pawn shop (Olmstead). This means that 91.7 percent of all firearms are obtained illegally and putting gun laws in place can only potentially prevent 8.3 percent of crime. Therefore, putting gun control laws in place won’t unnecessary.

Not only are gun control laws unnecessary, but they put U.S citizens in danger. Putting gun laws in place puts the law abiding citizens in danger because it makes it harder for them to get protection against the many criminals out there who already have guns (or can easily illegally obtain them). Because of the fact that most criminals obtain their guns illegally (or some other way than buying them from retail shops) gun control laws don’t really affect them. Putting new laws in place would only have an impact on the U.S citizens who follow the law and purchase their guns legally. Putting these laws in place will only put our citizens in more danger and make it harder for them to protect themselves and their families. Not only everyday citizens will be put in danger, but due to the fact there are many gun laws that some soldiers on military bases  have to abide by, it also puts them in danger also. For example,the April 2 tragedy at Fort Hood was the third mass shooting on a military base in five years. That's because our trained service members aren't allowed to carry their weapons under a regulation implemented in 1993 (Stockman). Overall, gun control laws just put our American citizens in danger as well as our troops on our military bases by eliminating a vital way for them to protect themselves against any harm.

Lastly, the Constitution grants us the right to bear arms and it is held up by the Supreme Court. The Second amendment in the Constitution, in which our forefathers created states that, "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." Therefore, even the creators of this great nation knew that in order to have safety amongst America’s citizens, everyone should have the right to keep firearms as well as carry firearms. Now, the government has already curtailed the 2nd Ammendment to the point where you cannot carry guns outside of your house in many places without being questioned, fined, or even arrested; but we really need to restrict them anymore?

One reason as to why people people think that there should be more gun control laws is because of the amount of violence in which takes place using firearms. These people believe that guns are a major cause for many of the innocent deaths in our country. They are wrong. Guns don’t kill people; people kill people. A practicing psychologist and chairman of the Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations,  Rep. Tim Murphy states, “It's not about what’s in their hand; it’s about what’s in their mind.” Putting gun control laws in place aiming to stop gun violence will only put our citizens in more danger. In the mind of a law abiding citizen, they just want to protect themselves from danger and have a sense of security. If the United States were to put more gun laws in place it would strip our citizens of that security by making it harder for them to purchase guns while the criminals with the twisted minds already have them.

Another reason as to why people are for gun control is because they believe that putting more laws and restrictions on legally purchasing guns will make it harder for criminals to buy guns. In reality, as i mentioned before, % of criminals purchase their guns illegally. Therefore this claim of making it harder for criminals to obtain guns by enforcing gun control laws is invalid and will only prevent our law abiding citizens who aim to protect themselves and their families.

In conclusion, gun control laws are unnecessary, put law abiding citizens in danger, and the Constitution grants us the right to bear arms. We need to stop the nonsense about putting gun control laws in place and do what is best for the citizens of the United States and keep them safe.