Tatman, Lianna. Chapter4, “The Gun Control Debate: From Classrooms to Congress”.Greenhaven Publishing LLC, 2019.

            This chapter talks about how the benefits of citizens in America having guns outweigh the benefits of gun control. The first reason he states is that the second amendment was created in the first place, which is to prevent government corruption and the United States from becoming a police state. If the government knows the country’s citizens are armed, they are less likely to oppress. The author states the second reason is for self-defense, especially for people without the physical physique to take on an intruder. Guns make it way easier to defend yourself. The author also states that gun control just won’t work because criminals can always get guns illegally. If good law-abiding citizens have to wait extended periods of time for enhanced background checks or can’t buy assault weapons, that’s just going to slow them down from stopping crimes. Criminals will always find a way to get guns illegally. He also states the Australian assault weapon ban, which, yes, it reduced gun violence. Still, it also increased other types of crime like kidnapping and robbery because if a person is not armed to defend themselves, then they wouldn’t be able to protect themselves or others that need help. He also states that the average police response time could be up to 18 minutes which is enough for someone to commit a crime and get away with it, so by making strict gun control laws, we are hurting responsible gun owners who want to defend themselves and others. This chapter plays an important role in my paper because it supports my counterargument of why our gun laws in America are good right now because it shows the benefits of citizens carrying guns to defend themselves and others against criminals, this will strongly support the argument of Americans freely carrying legal guns.

·      they frequently note that criminals do not have a problem breaking the law, including laws about who can have guns. They believe gun control laws would only reduce the ability of innocent victims to fight back against people who have obtained guns illegally.(Tatman 65)

·      If policymakers are truly in- terested in harm reduction, they should pause to consider how many crimes—murders, rapes, assaults, robberies— are thwarted each year by ordinary persons with guns.(Tatman 67)

·      Australia banned certain types of guns after a mass shooting in 1996 and instituted stricter regulations on the types that were still legal. While the country’s rates of gun violence and overall murder have fallen dramatically since then, its rates of other violent crimes, such as kidnapping and robbery, have not. (Tatman 69)