The first step in solving a problem is admitting there is a problem, and America has a gun problem. However, simply banning guns is not the answer.

With America’s growing epidemic of gun-related crime, gun ownership has never been more necessary. When a person breaks into a home threatening a family, it is up to the police to protect them, but in that crucial few minutes before the police arrive, that family is on their own without any great means of protection. With the absence of a gun in the home, many are left hopeless in the case of an attack. People owning and carrying guns deter crime due to criminals either knowing they have guns on them or understanding a home is protected by a trained shooter.

Gun ownership also deters crime in the case of store robberies and mass shootings. Greenwood is sadly all too familiar with this in the case of the mall shooting a few years ago. A man with the intent to kill men, women, and children in the Greenwood Park Mall came in with an assault rifle. That man murdered three and injured two more, and after a minute, he was fatally shot by a mall patron who carried a sidearm with him. Without that mall patron, many more would likely have lost their lives that day, and due to him technically breaking the mall’s no-firearm policy, he saved lives.

One of the leading reasons for more gun control is that it will decrease the number of gun-related crimes committed by criminals and other offenders. In reality, most of the time these guns either do not belong to the one committing the act, were obtained illegally, or were augmented illegally. Simply adding a law that states people can no longer own guns would effectively lead to more deaths via guns, people losing the ability to protect themselves, and criminals still being able to obtain the weapons.

Gun laws in America do need to be changed but outright banning guns might lead to a higher crime rate and more violent acts being done to those unable to protect themselves. America’s fundamental right to own guns has been beneficial for the American people and taking that away now could result in problems for both victims of future violent crimes and gun owners.