Gun control

The Gun Debate: Logic, Emotion, and the Right to Bear Arms

Introduction

Gun rights are one of America’s most heated topics, especially after tragic mass shootings. Emotions spike, media outlets rush to frame the story, and the national conversation quickly turns political. This isn’t meant to politicize tragedy—it’s to unpack the tangled arguments, misinformation, and deeply held beliefs that drive the debate.

Media Narratives and Statistics

After a recent shooting, I flipped through major news outlets. MSNBC and CNN pivoted almost instantly to anti-gun talking points. Fox initially focused on victims, but soon enough, every outlet was pushing an agenda. The victims’ stories were lost in the noise.

A major frustration: blatant misuse of statistics. Studies are misquoted, cherry-picked, or even fabricated. Presidents, politicians, and billion-dollar newsrooms do it—because most people never check the original studies. My advice: if someone quotes a stat, look it up. Odds are, it doesn’t say what they claim. It very rarely does. 

The Logic and Limits of Gun Control

Yes, in a world without guns, there’d be no gun deaths. But that ignores reality: there are hundreds of millions of guns already in circulation. Demanding confiscation is impractical and dangerous, yet allows us to virtue signal our goodness.

• Gun owners often see the Second Amendment as protection against government tyranny.

• Criminals won’t turn in their guns. By definition, they don’t follow laws.

• Gun bans create soft targets while leaving the law-abiding unarmed.

Saying “just ban guns” is like saying “everyone stop driving to save the planet.” Virtue signaling, not a solution.

Background Checks & Enforcement

One argument I hear often is that we just need “universal background checks.” On the surface, that sounds reasonable. None of us want violent felons or the mentally unstable to buy guns unchecked. But here’s the catch: most mass shooters already passed background checks. The failures weren’t because we didn’t have laws—they were because warning signs weren’t reported, agencies didn’t share data, or red flags were ignored. Before we pile on more laws, maybe we should start by enforcing the ones we already have.

It sounds like all, 100% mass shooters over 50+ years were on some type of anti-depression or barbituates. Sure, millions are, but maybe there should be some type of enhanced check-in with your doctor that should happen if you are on meds with side effects of being extremely depressed or violent. Side effects on meds lead to suicide, depress, violent and homicidal actions. We can't continue to ignore the mental illness while we just blame shootings on guns and the NRA.

Gun-Free Zones: Soft Targets

Almost every mass shooting happens in gun-free zones—schools, malls, churches. Shooters pick places where they know no one will shoot back.

If I were a criminal, I’d avoid the house with deer heads on the wall and go for the one with a “gun-free zone” sign. It’s not complicated: less resistance equals more opportunity for violence.

On a larger scale, nearly all gun-related murders happen in cities where guns are banned.

The laws that are supposed to stop shootings isn't working and the solution is to double down and make those laws stricter.

Red Flag Laws

Another popular idea is “red flag” laws—temporarily removing guns from people who show dangerous behavior. Again, it sounds like common sense: if someone is threatening violence, they shouldn’t be armed. The danger, though, is abuse. Imagine an angry ex, a political rival, or a nosy neighbor making an accusation, and suddenly your rights are gone with no trial. If red flag laws exist, they need ironclad due process protections—otherwise, they become another tool for taking guns from people who did nothing wrong.

Global and Historical Perspectives

• Brazil: loosened restrictions → murder rate plummeted.

• Venezuela: tightened restrictions → murder rate skyrocketed.

• Switzerland: high gun ownership, low gun crime.

• England & Australia: gun bans, but crime shifted or even rose.

• U.S. cities with strictest laws (Chicago, D.C., Philadelphia): consistently lead in violence. Remove them from U.S. stats, and America drops far down the global rankings.

Misconceptions About Guns and Owners

Most gun owners aren’t violent; they’re hunters, competitors, or protectors. Guns are used over a million times a year for self-defense—but those stories rarely make headlines. These people aren't going to shoot anyone unless they are protecting their families or communities.

The “muskets vs. AR-15s vs. nukes” argument is nonsense. No one is advocating for civilians to own nuclear weapons. Guns are practical defensive tools. Comparing them to WMDs is fear-mongering.

Women especially benefit: studies show women are 2.5x more likely to be injured without a gun than when armed. Guns level the playing field and around a quarter of all women own a gun.

One report said that armed shooters stopped 48% of mass shootings last year.

Licensing and Training
Some say we should treat guns like cars—require licenses, testing, and mandatory training. To be fair, most responsible gun owners already train, practice, and even pay for safety courses on their own. The real issue is this: rights aren’t the same as privileges. Driving is a privilege, but the right to bear arms is in the Constitution. Once we let the government decide who “qualifies” for that right, it’s only a matter of time before the rules shift to exclude as many people as possible.

The Second Amendment

The Second Amendment states:

“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.”

Opponents claim this applies only to the military or police. But in District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), the Supreme Court affirmed the right is individual.

Historically, the founders wanted an armed citizenry to prevent tyranny. Ironically, some early gun laws were designed to keep weapons out of minorities’ hands—a misuse of regulation we should never repeat.

Emotional Reactions vs. Personal Responsibility

After every tragedy, the knee-jerk response is “blame the gun.” But guns don’t cause broken families, mental illness, or cultural decay.

We live in a society that sues McDonald’s for obesity while ignoring personal responsibility. Similarly, blaming guns distracts from deeper problems: fatherless homes, untreated mental illness, violent media, and the erosion of faith and community.

School Safety: Real Solutions

Utah allows teachers to carry guns. In decades, there was only one incident—an accidental discharge into a cabinet. Yet national voices immediately demanded disarmament.

Meanwhile, schools invest in real safety measures:

• Bullet-resistant glass

• Surveillance systems

• SRO officers

• Emergency plans and drills

• SafeUT app for anonymous reporting

These steps actually work—but never make the headlines.

Felons and Gun Rights

Should every felon lose their Second Amendment rights? Many aren’t violent. Many pled guilty under prosecutorial pressure. Nonviolent offenders losing their right to self-defense makes little sense.

AR-15s and “Assault Weapons”

AR-15s have existed since the 1950s. They weren’t used in mass shootings until recent decades—yet now they’re painted as the singular cause. Police cars nationwide now carry rifles for the same reason civilians do: to match the firepower of criminals.

Assault Weapons & Magazine Limits
Gun-control advocates often argue that “military-style weapons” like AR-15s or “high-capacity” magazines should be banned because no one needs them for hunting or home defense. Here’s the problem: AR-15s function just like other semi-automatic rifles, and they’re one of the most popular defensive firearms in America. And magazine limits? Reloading takes seconds. Criminals don’t stop to say, “Wait, my clip only holds seven rounds, I guess I’ll quit now.” These bans sound good in a press conference, but in practice, they only handicap the law-abiding.

Gun bans seem like such an obvious thing that will never work, which is why we double down on it. If only guns were illegal, murders would cease? What if we made murder illegal? What if shooting people was illegal? What if we just made drugs illegal, then we could stop the entire drug trade?

Final Thoughts

Here’s what I believe:

• Gun bans don’t work. Criminals ignore laws.

• Most gun owners are responsible, law-abiding citizens.

• Guns save more lives than they take.

• The root causes are cultural and spiritual decay—not the existence of firearms.

• Disarming the good empowers the bad.

I want a world where kids are safe, families are strong, and individuals take responsibility. Guns aren’t the enemy—evil is.