More Guns Just Means More Gun Deaths

I like this graphic, because it exposes one of the most ridiculous myths of the anti-gun regulation crowd -- that more guns means a safer country. If that was true, then the United States would be the safest country in the world. It's not. We have one of the highest murder rates in the civilized world, especially those committed with firearms (and that doesn't even consider all the suicides and accidents with guns that take additional lives). The truth is that the more guns a country has in circulation, the more gun deaths it will have.

The Second Amendment to our Constitution does give individual Americans the right to own a firearm, but the Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled that this is not an unlimited right. Government has the constitutional ability to restrict dangerous individuals from owning a firearm, and can restrict the type of firearms an individual can own. For example, those with a criminal record and those deemed dangerously mentally-ill can (and should) be denied the right to purchase or own a gun -- and individuals cannot purchase or own machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades, or similar weapons.

Currently, we have a country where anyone can buy a weapon (including criminals and the dangerously mentally-ill). At the very least, we should plug the holes in our background check laws to prevent this. It just makes sense, and it is supported by an overwhelming majority of Americans.