How many of you have heard that thing certain gun proponents say all the time? They say that criminals don’t follow the law, so why should we punish law-abiding citizens because of them? It’s a consistent, old, tired, and illogical argument that keeps coming up.
We all know criminals don’t follow the law — that’s why they’re called criminals. So, for argument’s sake, let’s say that every person in a place like Chicago is involved in crime. Alright, so we establish that baseline argument. Chicago is made up mostly of criminals.
On the way home, like any self-described criminal might, I had a scuffle with Rodrigo. Rodrigo was giving me disrespectful looks and checking out my partner. That kind of thing leads to conflict, so now I feel like I need an AK47 to settle things with him. I’m going to take care of it because looking at my partner that way is disrespectful, and situations like that don’t always resolve quietly.
But wait, I live in Chicago. I can’t get a gun legally because the laws are too restrictive. But I’m furious, so what can I do? Indiana is right next door. I can just hop over there and take advantage of their more relaxed gun laws. If I buy from a private owner, they don’t even have to check my background, and then I’m armed and ready.
If I don’t want to make the trip, I can always get a gun from Manito, who has been running guns into Chicago for years. He’ll have the connection — no travel needed — and I can get a gun without any paperwork or with a fake serial number. Either way, I’m going to handle the situation with Rodrigo.
Now, for a moment, let’s say we had some common-sense gun laws at the federal level — rules that prevent me or Manito from easily going to Indiana and making a private gun transaction. So none of us could get guns that way, and these gun control laws would actually be enforced. Maybe then I’d just use a bat to settle things with Rodrigo, or a knife, or even fight it out with my fists. But without that gun, a drive-by shooting and the risk of harming innocent people would be far less likely.
See how that works? Criminals always exist, and they always will. But the fact is that in the hands of a criminal, guns can do a lot of damage. Without a gun, the harm caused is usually less severe. So if your excuse to keep guns so easily accessible is that criminals don’t follow laws anyway, that logic is worth reconsidering — and it’s part of the reason places like Chicago end up with such serious problems. Though we all know it runs deeper than that.
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