Prohibition of Firearms

Prohibition of Firearms


The core of Gun control
The core of the gun control argument essentially rests upon the notion that the commercial availability of firearms to civilians is a danger to civilians, as it also is arming criminals; by this argument, firearms being removed from civilian circulation should therefore reduce over-all violence. The notion also suggests that civilians will be better off without certain weaponry to defend themselves, or will not need them in defensive scenarios if said firearms are removed. The notion that if the playing field is leveled, they shall not need certain firearms.

By banning a firearm, the government would essentially be banning them from major civilian hands or retailers. The argument than rests upon, whether or not removing firearms from general civilian access would decrease over-all crime or homicide rates.


The defensive position
An argument can be made that certain "powerful" firearms would not be needed in self defense if said weapons did not exist; as long as the "power" levels are equal, I stand an equal chance against a criminal aggressor and therefore I am not at an a disadvantage. The problem with this shallow and face value view of firearms is it's blatant disregard for the inner complexities of firearm functioning; "power" is not a single unit that can be measured in a definitive quantity, nor is it one that can it be directly compared or examined. Additionally, it disregards the notion that criminals will be able to obtain such firearms anyways, without much regard to the law.

Different firearms possess different purposes; sniper rifles for instance, are intended for long range target acquisition. However, if civilians were only allowed to possess these firearms, then they would present a variety of problems. They would be difficult to carry around, often times being large, heavy, and cumbersome, in addition to slow or difficult to fire, such as with a bolt action firing system; an enemy that can face their targets hundreds of yards away, while having prepared themselves, is going to be more dangerous than a defensive person with such a firearm. If the only weapon available for defense is a sniper rifle, where an individual would need to quickly return fire to a largely unknown position with a weapon that would be difficult to carry around in public or utilize without proper preparation, it would extremely difficult to defend oneself. In essence,

Pump action versus semi etc.

In essence, banning certain weapon in fear of their "power" disregards the inner dynamic complexity of firearm combat and use. Certain weapons are not just "better" than other firearms, as they have their specific uses. Thus banning a particular firearm in fear of it's power is simplifying a matter that's more complex than this. Finesse and particular qualities about firearms make them more useful for self defense or tricky situations, such as semi-auto or large magazines

Obtaining firearms from alternative means

The individual