Gun Control: Why It Doesn’t Work, Part 1

*This is the first in a two-part series on gun control, taken from the printable PDF guide: Gun Control and Why It Doesn’t Work.

Free People Bear Arms

Gun control isn’t about guns. It’s about control.

The very foundation of this country — the freest the planet has ever seen — was based on who would have the power and liberty that firearms represent: We the People or “them” (the government forces).

Freedom matters.

When the government decided back in Revolutionary times that it should be in power and control the guns, free people stood up and decided we would control arms and delegate power to officials — not the other way around. It was a unique concept, never before attempted — the grand experiment of self-governance — and America was born.

It makes sense that the freest nation on Earth has the freest gun laws and best access to arms anywhere. Freedom from gun control is what led to the ongoing emancipation of every class of men and women and will continue to do so.

Take away or restrict guns and you take away or restrict personal freedom. Power comes from the barrel of a gun; so-called “gun control” takes that power and puts it in someone’s hands other than your own. That must never happen.

There’s a Reason It’s Controversial — Gun Control Doesn’t Work

If gun control only stopped criminals and made the world safe, there would be no controversy at all. But that’s not the case, is it? It remains among the most controversial of political policies and there’s a reason: It doesn’t work as advertised.

People who promote gun control either seek control over you while their side remains armed, are acting out their abnormal fears or are ignorant. Whichever way, gun control is terrible public policy and is steadfastly resisted by huge swaths of the fabric in a free society. It doesn’t control guns and it doesn’t control criminals.

Most new gun-control proposals are met with outrage and opposition because they assault personal freedom under some guise. Frequently, the promoted purpose and actual effect are totally different. If those opposed to gun rights revealed their true purposes, few people would support them, so lies, deceit and misdirection are typically needed to gain support.

For example, “All we want to do is register dangerous guns,” seems harmless enough. But when you look carefully, it’s really, “We need that list of everybody who peacefully owns guns so when we ban any, we know where they are.” That is so ominous that only the power-hungry or irrationally fearful would vote in favor and, as such, lies are required to disguise it. It’s not conjecture; it’s fact. New York and California have both required lists prior to confiscations, and nations throughout history did the same before committing atrocities. If gun control worked, they’d stop asking for more.

‘Gun Control’ Is a Euphemism for ‘Disarm the Public’ — The Real Purpose Is to Leave Only ‘Officials’ Armed

When you examine each new gun-control proposal carefully, you find it typically goes directly to disarming the public with little — or no — attention paid to controlling criminals. This is the great ugly secret about gun-control schemes the “news” media, public schools and officials hide from you. They often don’t even realize they’re doing it, but truly evil people are well aware they’re attempting to coalesce power in one set of hands — theirs.

So-called “gun-control proposals” either eliminate arms for, limit arms for or subarm the public. Politicians draft bills to outlaw a type of firearm, accessory or ammunition you already own; restrict access, possession or ownership to quality firearms and components; or require small, inadequate or poorly functioning (subarmament) versions for you. These are always falsely described as ways to stop crime or increase safety.

Since convicted felons are already legally barred from having any type of guns at all, it’s obvious these new rules only disarm innocent people. Criminals get any weapons they want the same way they get drugs — illegally. The laws don’t control them — gun control controls you. (These inconvenient facts never get mentioned, as they would spoil the anti-gun narrative.)

Gun controllers twist words to distort the debate in their favor. “Gun violence” is a propaganda substitute for crime, murder or assault. A so-called “assault weapon” is a normal popular household firearm — “assault” is a type of criminal behavior, not a kind of hardware. Look up “Politically Corrected Glossary” to understand how language is used against you.

Gun Registration Has No Component That Fights Crime — Writing Down Everyone’s Name Doesn’t Affect Criminals

How would writing down your name or my name in a government book somewhere stop bank robbers, murderers, gang members, thieves or … anyone? That’s right: It wouldn’t. But at first blush, it sounds cool and attracts support.

Although universal gun registration is one of the gun-control community’s great holy grails, it has no crime-fighting effect. It’s enormously expensive, as it would divert vast crime-fighting resources away from fighting actual crime to compiling massive lists of innocent people who haven’t done anything other than own constitutionally protected property.

How accurate would a federalized list of 400 million firearms matched to 100 million Americans be, anyway? Remember, owning unlisted guns would be a felony. The list-keeper — the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (famous for WACO, Ruby Ridge, Fast and Furious, etc.) — considers inaccurate listings, such as incorrect serial numbers, as “unlisted.” A 1 percent error rate creates four million innocent-felons. The list would need 80,000 changes a day to accommodate Americans who move once every 10 years. It would be a nightmare — not to mention another bloated federal program.

Even worse, such a list would, by definition, not include any firearms possessed by criminals, if for no other reason than it would violate their right against self-incrimination (since they can’t be armed in the first place). If you could find them to list them, you could just arrest them right there. The whole thing is a scam and the politicians — elected and appointed — who support it know it. It’s a gun-control plan to control you.

It is documented fact that virtually every genocide committed in the 20^th century began with gun-registration lists. Round-up armed citizens, confiscate their weapons and the authorities will gain power without meaningful resistance. The guaranteed potential for armed resistance is why America is — and has always been — the linchpin of freedom on the planet.

Gun Control Isn’t Crime Control — Going After Bad Guys, Not Private Property, Is What Makes Us Safer

Rational people — gun-rights advocates, gun-rights deniers and the uninvolved alike — uniformly seek violent-crime control. On this, we have consensus. Less crime is good.

What gun-rights deniers too often fail to recognize though is the lack of causal links between guns and crime. Crime results not from weapons but from social factors they prefer to ignore and avoid, such as poverty, family conditions, demographics, hunger, morality, mental capacity, psychosis, education, ghettoization, job opportunities, peer pressure, religious influences and the lack or abundance of these and other forces.

Sometimes these problems are created or heightened by government policies that liberal gun-controllers endorsed, but don’t worry, they’ll refuse to recognize (or admit) their role. They act out their frustration with (and latent hostility against) an inanimate scapegoat — firearms — as part of a complex set of avoidance mechanisms.

Crime has existed since Biblical times, and criminals weren’t invented with gunpowder during the Tang Dynasty in 9th century China.

Law Enforcement, Not Law, Is What Controls Criminals; Catching Criminals — Enforcement — Is What Makes Law Meaningful

A law isn’t some sort of magical decree. Laws are voluntary, and just because you pass a law doesn’t mean that even good people will obey it. It would be nice to pass a law declaring bank robbery illegal and have that be the end of bank robbery, but we all know better.

If laws simply “worked,” life would be utopia, and utopians would finally win. How silly — but that’s how some people actually think: Ban guns, guns end. Such folks should be exposed whenever possible; their cloaked presence is harmful. Unenforceable laws waste everything — time, money, opportunity and any remote chance of achieving goals. There are so many laws now that no individual could possibly obey — or even be aware of — them all. Bad law hurts everyone, and bad gun laws are dangerous.

Following the law is usually the right thing to do, but fear of getting caught is what makes most of us — even criminals — toe the line. The size of the penalty is another factor. Actual law enforcement is what makes crime control work. Even true gun control — disarming criminals — needs enforcement, not more law. That’s the missing element: law enforcement. Remember that whenever a new law is proposed.

Gun-Free Zones Aren’t Gun-Free – for Criminals – Believing That Posting a ‘No-Guns’ Sign Stops Anybody Is the Most Absurd Belief of All

Something about the anti-gun mindset makes such an individual feel better if a sign hanging near a door says, “NO GUNS ALLOWED.” It doesn’t matter that it doesn’t actually stop anyone. Folks remain free to walk in and out with their guns, legally owned or not, but that doesn’t affect the feel-good thought process. Anti-gunners have a non-rational belief in signs. What’s next, “No Bombs Allowed?”

That said, many honorable people will see such a sign and leave their guns in their cars. Criminals got wise to this in Virginia, and now gun thefts from vehicles outside restaurants with those signs are skyrocketing. Those signs are flat-out prejudice and discrimination against your fundamental constitutional civil rights, announcing, “We don’t want your kind here.”

Criminals bent on theft or rapid mass murder either ignore such signs or actively benefit from them. Does anyone really believe someone intent on wreaking havoc will walk away from posted buildings? That’s irrational. A “GUN-FREE ZONE” sign makes it a safer place for a madman to attack, as the innocent individuals within are neatly cordoned off in a defenseless-victim zone. Make-believe “gun-free zones” are known to be dangerous, reckless and negligent. Your rights are revoked, while any criminal off the street gets a pass.

Every Possible Gun Crime Is Already Illegal — Criminal Activity Has Been Outlawed for Centuries

The fraudulent nature of so-called “gun control” is most easily demonstrated by the simple fact that criminal activity is already … criminal.

You can’t name some violent armed offense, malum in se, as legal eagles call it, that isn’t already completely banned, usually more than once and usually for decades or more. The only thing left to ban is YOU. (Some gun-controllers have started calling their cause “gun safety” instead of “gun control,” but don’t let their attempt to co-opt language fool you.)

When a political operative proposes a new gun law, ask yourself the following simple questions: “Will this bill expand or reduce my personal freedom?” and, “Does this free me to do something I can’t currently do, or does it remove something I am currently free to do or have?”

Bills from Democrats typically shrink your freedom — conditions, restrictions, taxes, even bans on rights and property you already have. Republicans, inconsistently, might attempt to lift restrictions or expand access, or substitute new problems for existing ones. It’s a tough game.

*Can’t wait for the next installment of Gun Control and Why It Doesn’t Work? You can get full access to this and other great reading materials from the USCCA by setting up a FREE Account!