Did you know that, according to a 2016 survey, 21% of prisoners reported carrying a gun during their crime? This staggering statistic lead to heightened safety fears. Concerned citizens lobby for societal gun control.
Gun control laws primarily focus on reducing available firearms to criminals. In reality, gun control affects the average citizen more than criminals. Each state passes new laws resulting in different enforcement priorities. These diverse responses create confusion in society.
To write this post, I meticulously examined numerous data points, sparing you the effort. I also discuss why some would want to ban the AR-15. Examine my headings below to learn more.
Problems Affecting Gun Control on Society
Licensing requirements and enforcement priorities are citizens’ biggest obstacles. In this section, we examine both of them relating to exercising your 2nd Amendment rights.
Carrying License Requirements- Unintended Consequences
A movement against regulatory overload is “constitutional carry”. Gun control advocates pushed for tighter and tighter restrictions finally causing a backlash.
Across many states license requirements fall into 3 categories:
- May-Issue
This is the most restrictive of all the carrying license requirements. Applicants must pass numerous tests to gain approval. In the end, police can still deny a permit.
- Shall-Issue
Less restrictive than the first one but still requires some tests. This process involves taking a gun safety class with a marksmanship test at the end.
- Constitutional Carry (Permitless Carry)
This is the least restrictive. If you can pass a firearm background check, you’re able to carry a gun without additional hurdles. Each state has different versions so you should check your local laws on what they entail.
Thus, the opposition’s main goal consisted of public safety without regard to citizen’s rights. Backed into a corner and tired, Republican legislators loosened carrying restrictions.
As a result, many bright red states- like Kentucky- abolished past licensing requirements. Citizens could carry firearms without a government permission slip.
Enforcement Variations and Priorities
Here is a quick common scenario to show varying enforcement.
Being pulled over for speeding ends with these 3 consequences:
- verbal warning
- hefty ticket and court appearance
- arrested for reckless driving
Each option includes different penalties. You want the verbal warning since it is less of a wallet burden.
What happens with gun law enforcement? States, cities, and police departments have different agendas.
Licensing requirement enforcement is a great example of this discrepancy.
Below we will discuss enforcement in New York City.
New York City Enforcement
For those who pay attention, New York City has stricter gun laws than New York state. They’re like their own entity with varied enforcement in their own city limits. This is the perfect example of “May-Issue” licensing.
Go to the Wikipedia page on New York gun laws. Scroll through the headings.
Do you notice anything odd?
They have a special section on New York City. If a city has its own header on Wikipedia, they have differential enforcement. The special segment warns you of exceptions to state laws. Be advised!
For years in NYC, you needed to show “proper cause” to obtain a gun carry license. “Proper cause” in political lingo meant you needed connections.
In other words, only famous people could receive a carry permit in NYC. Your average citizen- like you- couldn’t.
Moreover, John Stossel- an investigative journalist- tested this theory out many years ago. He proved the concept of varied police enforcement.
This so-called public safety measure of gun control affects you. Restricting a person’s rights on an arbitrary whim is wrong. The United States doesn’t abide by this elitist mentality.
In the end, lawsuits challenged this unfair enforcement practice. Why restrict licenses to the average citizen allowing only celebrities to have them?
A landmark case- New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen– made the “proper cause” section of New York licensing obsolete.
Additionally, “May Issue” licensing is slowly disappearing. It will soon be an outdated licensing classification.
When states adopted “May Issue”, politicians knew it included way too much state control. But they proceeded to use it anyway. It spews bureaucratic corruption such as denying a permit just because.
Should We Ban the AR-15?
In this section, I will discuss the gun control measure of banning AR-15s and its effect on you. I will give you actual FBI statistics of related gun homicides.
Origins of the Ban:
Banning the AR-15 is a universal term for restricting the sale of semi-automatic rifles. This also includes rifles similar to the AK-47. And gun control advocates believe no U.S. citizen should possess one.
Opponents want “assault rifles- or assault weapons” off American streets. “Assault weapons” became a term the media used in the late 1970s and early 1980s to vilify guns.
This term has a more emotional appeal to public interest.
Actually, the “AR” stands for Armalite rifle- not “assault rifle”. An assault rifle is fully automatic. One trigger pull can empty a standard 30-round magazine.
A typical AR-15 sold today is a semi-automatic weapon. This means 1 trigger pull and 1 round shot. Think 1 for 1.
Difference Between Automatic and Semi-Automatic
Semi-automatic: 1 trigger pull = 1 round expelled
Automatic: 1 trigger pull= many rounds
Next, we will discuss the real-life numbers derived from the FBI to give you more clarity.
FBI Statistics on Rifle Homicides
The United States is a country of over 330 million people. That’s enough people to fill over 3,300 football stadiums capable of holding 100,000 individuals. I’m providing you with a little perspective to engage your logic.
When I discuss these statistics, I’m not degrading the individuals who lost their lives. Rather, I’m acknowledging overhyped media attention.
On average from 1991 until 2021, rifles accounted for only 2.6% of homicides in the United States. 3 decades of data is enough to make informed decisions on gun policy.
Statistically speaking, semi-automatic rifles aren’t the issue. Handguns account for the majority of related gun deaths.
Yet, gun control advocates continue to insist on banning the AR-15 platforms.
Here is the data:
|
FBI Rifle Homicide Data 1991-2021 |
|||
|
Year |
Number of Rifles Used in Crimes |
Total Murders by Year |
% of Murder Gun Fatalities |
|
1991 |
745 |
21,676 |
3.4% |
|
1992 |
706 |
22,716 |
3.1% |
|
1993 |
757 |
23,180 |
3.3% |
|
1994 |
724 |
22,084 |
3.3% |
|
1995 |
654 |
20232 |
3.2% |
|
1996 |
561 |
16,967 |
3.3% |
|
1997 |
638 |
15,837 |
4.0% |
|
1998 |
548 |
14,276 |
3.8% |
|
1999 |
400 |
13,011 |
3.1% |
|
2000 |
411 |
13,230 |
3.1% |
|
2001 |
386 |
14,061 |
2.7% |
|
2002 |
488 |
14,263 |
3.4% |
|
2003 |
392 |
14,465 |
2.7% |
|
2004 |
403 |
14,210 |
2.8% |
|
2005 |
445 |
14,965 |
3.0% |
|
2006 |
438 |
15,087 |
2.9% |
|
2007 |
453 |
14,916 |
3.0% |
|
2008 |
380 |
14,224 |
2.7% |
|
2009 |
351 |
13,752 |
2.6% |
|
2010 |
367 |
13,164 |
2.8% |
|
2011 |
332 |
12,795 |
2.6% |
|
2012 |
298 |
12,888 |
2.3% |
|
2013 |
285 |
12,253 |
2.3% |
|
2014 |
235 |
12,278 |
1.9% |
|
2015 |
215 |
13,847 |
1.6% |
|
2016 |
300 |
15,355 |
2.0% |
|
2017 |
389 |
15,206 |
2.6% |
|
2018 |
305 |
14,446 |
2.1% |
|
2019 |
364 |
13,927 |
2.6% |
|
2020 |
455 |
17,813 |
2.6% |
|
2021 |
447 |
14,616 |
3.1% |
Rifle Statistics by J liberty
Rifle deaths trended downward as an aggregate for over 30 years. According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, there are over 24.4 million modern sporting rifles in America since 1990.
That’s a lot of rifles with a small percentage of the homicides- mostly committed by gangs
% of Total Homicides from Rifles by J liberty
The trend line is 2.6 % for over 30 years.
2nd Amendment Related Articles:
• What are some other gun control sayings? LEARN MORE about these overused gun control sayings.
• If all the guns disappeared, what would happen? LEARN MORE about the dystopian world without firearms.
How do These Numbers Affect Gun Control and You?
If the average rate of homicides has been below 3% for over 30 years, what is the push to ban the AR-15?
I’m glad you asked.
It is not a matter of public safety to ban the AR-15 but emotion.
The public push to ban these rifles would do nothing to affect overall crime. It would only alienate 2nd Amendment supporters.
Media attention highlights events associated with these rifles. Therefore, public uproar for change is only high when exposed to mass media attention.
Absent this interest, the average citizen isn’t affected by AR-15s.
The best solution is to stop the root cause- the individual criminal.
As a society, it is hard to predict why people do what they do. Fund research on finding out the “why” of crime. Stop vilifying law-abiding AR-15 owners.
It dehumanizes them causing mass resentment on both sides. AR-15 owners are respectable citizens of society.
Crime doesn’t pay, and AR-15 owners want a solution without gun confiscation.
In the end, complete civilian disarmament is the ultimate goal of people pushing an AR-15 ban.
Methodology of Statistics
I gathered data from the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report (UCR). Their database ranged from 1995-2019 with data included in the original PDFs to 1991.
Statistics from 2020 – 2021 I obtained from the FBI National Incident Reporting System (NIBRS)
To ensure accuracy, I manually entered the figures into a spreadsheet.
It is worth noting I saw slight variations in the data from year to year. I assumed they received new information and updated the database.
Some statistics include justifiable homicides meaning self-defense with no criminal intent. Over a 30-year time frame, the FBI revised its methodology for improved accuracy.
Conclusion
Proposed gun control laws cause both sides to scramble. Gun owners don’t want restrictions. Gun control groups yearn for their goal of perceived public safety.
As regulators pass new laws, a police officer must enforce new rules.
What happens if those laws conflict with the Constitution?
New gun control laws affect law enforcement too. They have continual new vague regulations that pile up on their desks.
Correspondingly, differential enforcement occurs due to factors such as:
- political climate
- individual jurisdiction degression.
One of the biggest differences occurs among states on carry permit issuance.
AR-15s and other rifles cause other societal concerns. Many want those rifles banned and gone forever.
In closing, varying gun control laws are a threat to the longevity of the Constitution. These constant new restrictions don’t jive with the closest supporters of our founding documents and principles- 2nd Amendment supporters and you.
What would society do if they started exploring other options besides blaming gun owners? Or the NRA? Please forward this post on to those who are concerned to about wanting real change.
J. LIberty
References:
Staff. (2022, July 20). Commonly Owned: NSSF Announces Over 24 Million MSRs in Circulation. Retrieved from National Shooting Sports Foundation, Inc.
UCR Publications. (2023, September). Retrieved from Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Photo Credits
