“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,” is the Second Amendment in the U.S. Constitution. It does not get clearer than that.

My high school government and economics professor stood in front of the class one day and attempted to persuade us that the Second Amendment to the Constitution is widely misinterpreted because most people think the militia meant citizens, when in reality the militia is the “authorities.” When the Constitution was written all those years ago, who were the militia?

The militia were a group who voluntarily banded together to protect our country and the Constitution. One is not born and chosen as an “authority” i.e. a police officer or FBI agent; they simply join the organization voluntarily. Just because we have gun control does not mean crimes will be reduced.

The American people tend not to touch the black market; however, if there is a demand, there will always be a supply. Many would assert that every state should make it difficult to possess a firearm by charging $500 to attain a class 3 weapons license and require one to subject them self to a full background check. Once those steps are completed, the license would then take three to six months to be granted and delivered. However, in this instance, gun control only affects the “white market” that is, the legal market of society, in this case certified gun stores.

If supply is reduced in the white market, it will make crime organizations more powerful because they will charge more for supply. Law-abiding citizens are the only ones affected by gun control, because they acquire weapons by legal means; whereas the crime organizations acquire them by illegal means. The only aspect that really changes with gun control and higher restrictions is that illegal weapons become more expensive in that market. Thus, more money is pumped into the Alcohol Tobacco Firearms program and the FBI to gain more agents to reinforce regulations, resulting in more inmates in over-crowded prisons, taking more taxpayers’ money to incarcerate them. It takes approximately $35,000 per year to incarcerate one prisoner in the U.S., according to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Growth in prisons leads to growth in gang membership, because prisons are a source in recruiting grounds for gangs, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Gun control may prove to create more problems than it solves, and ultimately crime can be regulated but never stopped.