More Guns and Less Crime

John R. Lott has written a series of books, three to be exact, all with the same topic. More guns and less crime is the issued discussed. He is an American author as well as an economist and gun rights advocate, which has propelled him to research and the facts on how guns and crime relate. These books provide evidence and facts on gun control and how it relates to crime. In the latest addition of the series, Lott portrays American culture to one considered as gun culture.

One statistic states that in 2009, one hundred and twenty-four million people lived in homes that included a total number of two hundred and seven million guns. As time goes on, more and more guns are being bought, this increases the gun ownership rate. The gun ownership rate has been rising in recent years, however, the crime rate percentage involving guns is at an all time low. The NRA explains how more guns and more people that carry guns have a negative correlation with crime rate. As of 2016, gun ownership in the United States has risen to an all time high. The nation's total crime rate has fallen to a 44 year low and the murder rate has decreased to an all time low. Do more guns really decrease the crime rate?

John has been testing and researching for years his theory on more guns equals less crime. He has conducted numerous polls and surveys. Lott conducted mass amounts of research to track how gun ownership has changed over the years. He has tracked every detail that involves guns, whether it's from gun related crime scenes to gun self defense incidents. Due to high gun ownership, gun relevance with crime and accidents are always on the news. We are always reading and being told about gun shootings and deaths caused by firearms, all this is because In America, guns have been a part of the country's society since the beginning of guns. All through history guns have been big part of Americans, guns are used to protect this great nation, self-defense,to hunt for food, and sporting activities.

Gun control is one of the most heated topics in the country due to all the mass shootings and gun related crime incidents. It's not the guns that are killing people it is the people who are killing people. Mental health plays a huge part in gun shootings, for example, all the school shootings that have been happening lately, these kids who shoot up schools are not in the best state of mind and can be prevented easily. Statistics show that handguns are the most dangerous and misused firearms in America, this is due to its low profile and how concealable they are. In today's society two words are always linked together, Gun and Crime. The government is in a tough predicament on whether to enforce more gun laws or loosen them up, more guns could potentially equal more protection or more crime.

Guns are a fantasy to most people, guns have a certain picture which is portrayed by movies or toys and games. In reality most people have never held a gun let alone shot a firearm. To top that, most people have never seen somebody in real life being threatened by a gun or has seen a gun related crime. The majority of citizens have little to no experience with firearms. A study showed that the majority of police officers have never been in a gun related conflict with a suspect. The idea of guns and how they a perceived is greatly biased, one large factor is the news. One news story headline about a Japanese student who was shot and killed on his way to a party in Louisiana in 1992. This story soon became international as well as showing that gun defense can take a turn or the worst.

Gun laws affect the society we live in today, for example the city of Chicago. Chicago, Illinois has some of the strictest gun control laws in the country however the city has the highest gun murder rate. In some countries like Brazil, they banned the possession of guns in 2003, yet some people still have the access to guns, but those who carry guns find it difficult to find ammunition.
One statistic shows that, in on year, only 30 people were accidentally involved in a fatal gun shooting, they were mistaken for an intruder or a victim of some sort.

In comparison, policeman accidentally kill as many as 330 innocent people annually. Are criminals afraid of law-abiding criminals with a gun?, John asked. Yes they are when in fact most criminals are truly afraid of an armed citizen. In 2002, John Lott conducted a nationwide survey on gun ownership. He discovered that ninety five percent of people that have guns to use as self-defense, simply just waved or flashed their firearm at an attacker or victim to get them to start running. All these encounters are never talked about or discussed on the news, what is being talked about is the fatality shootings. This is how most people get the wrong picture about guns, they are only seeing and hearing about one side. Another survey was taken from convicted American felons and revealed that they criminals are much more worried about a citizen with a gun than dealing with the police. Some criminals said that in the interviews that they avoid late-night burglaries because it's the best time to get shot.

Throughout the entire book, Lott uses nothing but numbers and stories(news reports) to get his main argument across the board. He has very interesting and intriguing way of doing so, by sharing personal stories and going in depth with investigations and research. In the article or news report above, Lott used pathos, which is emotional appeal, to explain the story and how it affected the surrounding community. When Lott takes all of his stats that he has found and puts them into writing he uses logos, which is logical appeal, to prove a point. This book, as well as the entire series, are very convincing arguments. Between all of the research that goes along with the numbers, to the personal interviews, whether it's with criminals or witnesses, all of the literary devices are being used in the book. Logos and pathos being the biggest factor in the arguments.

Sooner or later bans will be put on guns in certain areas, all this does is increase violence and murder. If guns are outlawed, then only outlaws will have guns. The gun control question has changed drastically of the years, the question now is if gun ownership has any benefits at all and how useful the benefits are to the society we live in today, Gun rate is on a constant rise, more and more people are becoming gun owners ever before. In contrast, the gun related crime rate is on the fall, decreasing each year. Does this conclude that more guns equal less crime? The world may never know, because as long as there are guns, there will also be crime.

Cite this page