Following last week’s tragic shooting spree in an Arkansas schoolyard, it is not surprising that a lot of people have used the massacre as evidence of why we must have stricter gun control in America. It is only logical that if the two schoolboys did not have access to firearms they would not have been able to kill five people and wound 11.

Americans are killing each other at an alarming and unacceptable rate. Take away their guns, problem solved or at least, they will have a harder time killing, right?

How would we go about banning firearms? The situation would become like the drug war criminals would still want guns and get them on the black market as most do already. A ban is just another way of saying you are not smart enough to handle the freedom you have, so let’s take some of it away for your own good.

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But is it not logical that if you take guns out of the hands of criminals, they lose their power over us? Unfortunately, they would still be able to obtain guns, just as addicts easily obtain drugs in spite of our ever-tightening laws. We would have a situation in which the criminals still have guns, but now the rest of us do not. We become fair game.

Consider a criminal’s perspective. If you are planing to rob someone, and you know they cannot carry a firearm, you will feel quite safe with your black market 9 mm pistol. If you do not know if your prey has a gun, you will be less likely to assault them, for they might shoot you in their own defense.

Instead of banning firearms, 31 states have passed laws that allow law-abiding citizens to carry firearms in public, once trained and certified to do so.

The result? A University of Chicago study found that murders dropped by 8.5 percent, rapes fell by 5.2 percent and aggravated assaults were reduced by 7.7 percent. A CATO institute study resulted in similar conclusions. If states such as Illinois, which do not have carry-conceal laws, began to allow their lawful citizens to carry concealed firearms, the study found that, approximately 1,570 murders, 4,177 rapes and over 60,000 aggravated assaults would be avoided yearly.

Carry-conceal laws do not allow fools to walk around with a magnum stuffed in their pants. Extensive training and background checks are required. The sort of person who might have a bad day, get in an argument with someone and shoot them is not going to get a license.

As renowned criminologist Gary Kleck concluded in Point Blank, 75 lives are protected by a gun for every life taken by one. Guns are used defensively by law-abiding citizens more than 2.5 million times per year.

My heart goes out to the families of the teacher and students who lost their lives last week Tuesday. However, it is imperative to keep these facts in mind in the midst of tragedy, lest well-meaning but misinformed people decide to strip you of the right to defend yourself.

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