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Recently a colleague offered the observation that anti-gun or gun control laws are blatant and obvious failures. He pointed to the crime rates in Chicago, D.C. and New York as examples of areas with severely restrictive gun control policies. Yet record-breaking violent crime is rampant in those cities.

My friend wondered aloud how any rational or thinking person, even if they didn’t like guns, could support gun control or call for more restrictions based on the mountain of evidence that such laws do nothing to curb violence or criminal behavior? To the contrary, studies such as “More Guns, Less Crime” provide ample evidence against gun control.


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We chatted for a bit and I pondered my response. The point that my compatriot had missed was that gun control laws do indeed work, just not in the manner advertised to the masses. Legal restrictions on the ownership of certain arms and the requirements for registration and permitting establish a government sanctioned precedent. That precedent or narrative is that firearms and their ownership should indeed be constrained. Keep in mind, however, that the state always exempts its employees from firearms restrictions.

That aforementioned lawful precedent buttresses the hoplophobic argument that guns are inherently dangerous. The fewer guns available to the public, the safer everyone will be.

Keep in mind that a narrative is not necessarily based upon fact but upon the wishes or desires of the storyteller. Think about the non-stop rubbish produced in Hollywood. When the subject of firearms arises in any cop drama or whodunit movie, the actors spout off lines about the gun being “registered” or the person in question possessing a “permit” to own a gun.

Gun Control Is Flawed

To watch this tripe, you’d believe that firearms registration and gun permits are the rule throughout the United States. The actual truth is that only a very few states have such regulations on the books. But you see, the facts do not matter when you have an agenda and are attempting to establish the narrative.

Consider if you will Great Britain. For more than a decade there has been near-complete disarmament of the citizens. Yes, while it is still technically legal to own a very limited number of firearms. The narrative has taken hold; “Guns are bad and only a mentally disturbed person would want one.”

I have a good friend who hails from Great Britain and he explained to me that in England to publicly admit to being a gun owner or gun enthusiast is tantamount to confessing proclivity for rape or pedophilia. “The people are so afraid of guns it’s as though owning one will eventually turn you into a mass murderer.” He elaborated.

Do your research and you will find that violent crime, particularly home invasions have not been on a decline during the last twenty years in the UK, just the opposite, they are on the increase. The 1997 Firearms Act (Great Britain) effectively outlawed citizen ownership of all modern handguns. However, in 2009 the UK Daily Mail ran a story that “Gun crime” had risen 89 percent during the previous decade. Again, this is more factual evidence that gun control laws do not reduce crime.

Gun Control = Defenselessness

So, if gun control laws and legal restrictions do not stop or prevent violent crime, why do so many ostensibly intelligent people support them and cry for even more? The answer is really quite simple. Gun control laws reduce the ability of the law-abiding to protect themselves and foster the notion that an individual should not even attempt to provide for their own safety.

Every gun restriction act is tied to the notion that only armed state employees should be relied upon to halt criminal acts. “You don’t need a gun, that’s why we have police.” So the story goes. An armed state is good. An armed populace is bad. Once again, despite evidence to the contrary, 9-1-1 is offered to the masses as the magic potion to heal all that ails you.

The establishment media falls into lockstep with the state and uses phrases like “gun violence” and “assault weapon” to paint the object as evil. The sycophants tout even more “reasonable” restrictions on top of the previous restrictions that produced no positive result.

As we have witnessed, the under-educated and ignorant fall for the misinformation campaign.  They are not satisfied to be disarmed themselves. These useful idiots willingly crusade for the disarmament of their neighbors.

Where they successfully disarmed the citizen, the gun control activists create a climate where the law-abiding either cannot or are afraid to exercise their God-given right to self-protection. Faced with ever-increasing violence and crime, rather than admit failure, the disarmed masses clamor at the feet of their masters and screech for more state control.

In Conclusion

You see folks, gun control absolutely does work. Gun control laws turn those who may have been strong and independent citizens into weak and subservient ones. Gun control laws give legal standing to the notion that the armed state is superior to the disarmed populace. In the end, that was the unspoken goal of gun control all along.

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Paul G. Markel has worn many hats during his lifetime. He has been a U.S. Marine, Police Officer, Professional Bodyguard, and Small Arms and Tactics Instructor. Mr. Markel has been writing professionally for law enforcement and firearms periodicals for nearly twenty years with hundreds and hundreds of articles in print. Paul is a regular guest on nationally syndicated radio talk shows and subject matter expert in firearms training and use of force. Mr. Markel has been teaching safe and effective firearms handling to students young and old for decades and has worked actively with the 4-H Shooting Sports program. Paul holds numerous instructor certifications in multiple disciplines and a Bachelor’s degree in conflict resolution; nonetheless, he is and will remain a dedicated Student of the Gun.

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