Why We Shouldn’t Ban Assault Weapons
By: Liam Kelly
The Second Amendment is a heavily discussed topic today. We have gun owners and Second Amendment supporters who feel that owning a gun is their constitutional right, on the left however, it is often argued that assault weapons are a needless danger. A big problem with guns in their current state is that civilians can get a hold of very powerful guns with ease. Though some people suggest this is the direct cause, there are better ways to solve the problem. There are people either side of the spectrum saying that we need to ban assault weapons or that we need more people to get their hands on them, but the truth is that we don’t need to do either. Congress should not ban Assault weapons because there are more effective ways to solve the problem that work more towards the common interest of all instead of just one side.
Banning assault weapons would not help. Here’s why: If you ban assault weapons, you have to define an “assault weapon.” This allows gun manufacturers to slightly shift the characteristics of their guns so they don’t fall under the assault weapon category while keeping the core purpose of the weapon the same. For example, if you said that an assault rifle has a threaded barrel, gun manufacturers would just make the barrel not threaded and figure out a different way to add attachments while keeping the core purpose of the gun the same.
Regulating Magazines is much more straightforward. For example, you could just say “civilians can’t have a clip with more than 6 rounds” and there you go problem solved. An attacker can’t shoot more than 6 bullets at once. There are currently eight states in the U.S. that have banned or regulated high capacity magazines.
Another thing that many people say is “If we just ban assault weapons altogether, won't the problem end?” Well, while the problem might be suppressed, it wouldn’t totally be solved. There is still a market for illegal weapons, you might call this the black market. People willing to kill multiple people probably won't mind getting the guns illegally. It would also outrage lots of people. Many Americans would take this problem from the perspective of, “It's our Constitutional right.”
Banning high capacity magazines is clearly the best option; it is very straightforward with no loopholes and it is a very effective way to solve the problem of mass shootings. I encourage you to go out and advocate for the banning of high capacity magazines and to oppose the banning of assault weapons.
