The Gun Control Debate
Overview of Key Arguments
Through the years, legislative proposals to restrict theavailability of firearms to the public have raised the following questions:What restrictions on firearms are permissible under the Constitution? Does guncontrol constitute crime control? Can the Nation’s rates of homicide, robbery,and assault be reduced by the stricter regulation of firearm commerce orownership? Would restrictions stop attacks on public figures or thwart derangedpersons and terrorists? Would household, street corner, and schoolyard disputesbe less lethal if firearms were more difficult and expensive to acquire? Wouldmore restrictive gun control policies have the unintended effect of impairingcitizens’ means of self-defense? In recentyears, proponents of gun control…
