10 Arguments For and Against Gun Control

6) Stricter Gun Control Will Give Birth to a Black Market

Gun Rights Position:
Consider the Prohibition – enormous numbers of American citizens disregarded the 1920 amendment that banned the production, transport and sale of alcohol. In fact, the law created an environment which invited an illegal market to develop for the distribution of the substance. Notorious criminals such as Al Capone rose to power by controlling the importation of alcohol to large regions and cities. A widespread ban on gun ownership would produce similar outcomes, with much more deadly consequences. The criminalization of firearms would result in an influx of devastating gang violence in urban areas, and a government effort to seize citizens’ firearms would likely result in dangerous resistance on many fronts.

Gun Control Position:
Ok, ok – so maybe guns can’t be thoroughly banned. After all, there is no way to effectively eliminate all firearms that currently exist in the United States. But Gun Control activists rarely propose that guns be outlawed entirely. The argument is that legal barriers should be put in place to make it harder for people who shouldn’t have guns to get them. Such legislation, e.g. background checks and closing the gun show loophole, are common-sense steps that do not threaten the freedoms of any law-abiding citizen.