The following are very real arguments that I have heard from real people in support of guns. I have provided a logical rebuttal.
1. “The only thing stopping a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun”
After the Las Vegas shooting, I remind you this was the deadliest attack on United States soil since 9/11, a pro-gun guitarist named Caleb Keeter, who was at the shooting that night, tweeted that there were people armed and nothing they could do.
They did not want the police or anyone else to see them shooting and think they were with Stephen Paddock, the shooter. Keeter was a good guy with a gun, among him were a few more good guys with guns, and yet none could use the gun to stop the bad guy.
2. “It is my second amendment right"
It is your second amendment right, that is a fact. However, do you honestly believe that the founding fathers could have predicted AR-15s and other assault-style rifles being readily available to any citizen who chooses to buy one? The amendment is a part of a document that went into effect in 1789, over two hundred years ago. When that amendment was created, the guns that existed could fire rifles being readily available to any citizen who chooses to buy one? The amendment is a part of a document that went into effect in 1789, over two hundred years ago. When that amendment was created, the guns that existed could fire maybe three rounds a minute. The modern day AR-15? 45 rounds a minute.
There is no way they could have envisioned rifles of that capacity. And if you think for one second these politicians are out to protect your second amendment right, please check and see how much money they make off the NRA.
They have no interest in protecting you, this is about their money. If the NRA stopped offering them money, they may suddenly reconsider your second amendment right.
3. “I shouldn’t have to lose my gun rights because a crazy person got hold of a gun and killed people with it”
Valid point, but we are trying to create laws and regulations that would prevent that.
If you truly are a good person with a clean background and no reason to make someone believe you are not responsible enough to have a gun, then you can have your gun.
We don’t want the people who are running around hurting others, who have a strong history with mental illness, self-harm, domestic violence, or a criminal background to have an easy way to get a gun.
Get a background check, pass your background check, continue shooting cans in your backyard.
4. “Arm teachers with guns, don’t take guns away”
Please just take some time to think logically about this argument, because it is truly one of the dumbest I have heard.
Let’s start with the fact that the government does not even give enough funding to public schools for teachers to afford pencils. Teachers have to buy their pencils themselves, their dry-erase board markers, and any other supplies needed for the classroom.
Not only this, but a teaching salary is so poor in this country it is despicable.
So, economically speaking, where will the money come from for programs that would train teachers to be properly armed in a classroom (I certainly hope this argument includes some sort of training aspect to it) and provide the guns for the teachers to be able to use them?
Will the teachers be expected to provide their own guns, too? Is their next school shopping list supposed to be pencils, printer paper, binders, and a pistol? Then, what happens when a teacher decides to turn on some students?
In my experience, I have not been exposed to a racist, sexist, or unfair teacher. All the teachers I have been lucky to have were wholesome and rational, but some students do not get so lucky. Some students may have an unstable teacher, and now that unstable teacher has a gun in their hands.
Let us also be reminded that giving teachers guns will not solve the problem of shootings that occur in malls, parks, churches, concerts, the workplace, factories, airports, subway stations, movie theaters, restaurants, and many more locations.
5. “Criminals will just find a way to get guns anyway”
Heroin is illegal and people find ways to get it. Does that mean we should make heroin legal now because there are some people that choose to get hold of it in obscure ways?
Criminals will always find a way to do something. But, we can at least try to make it a little harder for them to do so.
6. “How could we even know if gun restrictions work?"
Ask any country that has implemented stricter laws and had a decrease in gun violence. One country in particular: Australia.
In 1996, a man named Martin Bryant killed 35 in what would be known as the Port Arthur Massacre.
Afterward, Australia implemented gun control laws. Since 1996, the country has had zero mass shootings. America on the other hand? 1,607 since 2012's Sandy Hook Shooting.
7. “I need my AR-15 in case the government decides to turn on us”
I have saved the absolute dumbest argument for last. I hate to break it to you, but if the U.S. government wanted to turn on the citizens for some reason, they would, and they would do it with ease.
Your AR-15 is no match against the United States military, but I admire your moxie (not really, this argument is a form of pure ignorance, just trying to be polite).
