Gun Control—Posner’s Comment

There are two important lessons that can be drawn from Becker’s discussion of gun control. The first is that a problem that is not dealt with in its early stages may become insoluble. It is not only the sheer infeasibility of removing 200 million guns from the American population, but also the emergence of a gun culture, that has ended hopes of disarming the population. The more people who own guns, the more other people will want to own them as well for self-defense; and the further ownership spreads, the more normal it seems. The ownership of guns has always been common in rural areas (the lower population density of the United States compared to Western Europe is an important reason why private ownership of guns is so much greater here), where there are hunting opportunities and police are spread thin. But now it is common in the rough areas of cities as well. Drug dealers cannot rely on police to enforce their deals and therefore have to arm themselves, and their law-abiding neighbors decide they had better be armed as well. (The news media create an exaggerated fear of violent crime, and this also contributes to the demand for guns by law-abiding people.) If population density continues to grow and the drug trade were legalized, gun ownership might begin to fall. 

Gun purchases soared in the economic crisis from which we are now (it seems) recovering. Partly this may have been due to increased cash hoarding (the sale of safes also soared) and to an increase in property crimes, but it may have been due mainly to a generalized fear that increased the demand for symbols of security. 

The second lesson is the unwisdom of the Supreme Court’s recent decisions that have created—on the basis of a tendentious interpretation of the drafting history of the Second Amendment and an intellectually untenable (as it seems to me) belief in “originalist” interpretations of the Constitution—a constitutional right to possess guns for personal self-defense. The result is to impose a significant degree of nationwide uniformity on a problem that is not uniform throughout the nation. The case for private gun ownership is much stronger in largely rural states, such as Arizona—states in which there is a deeply entrenched and historically understandable gun culture and a rationally greater lawful demand for private gun ownership than in the suburban areas of the densely populated midwestern, northeastern, and mid-Atlantic states—than it is in big cities with high crime rates—cities that have long had very strict gun laws many of which may now be ruled unconstitutional. 

Though gun ownership cannot be forbidden any longer, it can (even under the new constitutional regime) be regulated, as Becker emphasizes. Gun-registration laws aimed at denying gun ownership to lunatics and persons with a history of criminal activity, coupled with heavy punishment of dealers or customers who violate or evade the laws, should survive constitutional challenge. Federal “felon in possession” laws already provide for heavy punishment of persons forbidden to own a gun because they have been convicted of a felony, if they are caught with a gun in their possession. Loopholes in gun-registration laws, such as permitting the sale of guns at gun shows without requiring the screening of purchasers, can be closed. And punishment can be enhanced, even more than at present, for persons who use a gun in committing a crime. A reduction in the criminal use of guns would in turn reduce the demand by law-abiding persons, and as that demand fell so might the demand of guns by criminals, given stiff punishment costs. A virtuous cycle might be initiated that would lead eventually to a significant overall decline in gun ownership.

Comments

[brian]

So true about the politicians who want a carry permit now and were for stricter gun control. Now bc it personal effects them demonstrates the hypocrisy. I believe citizens who go thru the process and are permitted to carry a firearm, should deserve to. It is a proven fact that gun owners w permits are a small percentile of murderers or fatality, and accidents compared to illegals gun holders. And we all know people will always be able to obtain illegal firearms. Law abidding citzens should be given the right to protect themseleves. It was written in the constitution. Maybe bc, God forbid we are invaded or lose our country by a foreign enemy someday again. we then can do the best to perserve our freedom as we did in 1776.

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Posner and Becker are probably right and the chance for even the minimum requirement of a national registry of firearms keeping track of them from manufacture (or import) to destruction (or export) is gone.

In the circumstances the best the US can do is harm minimisation and the suggestions they make are probably the best that can be expected in the circumstances.

One issue that they did not take up, was that of the external costs to other countries (especially Mexico) of the US inability to curb firearm ownership. Strict laws against arms smuggling, strictly enforced would be welcomed by the rest of us.

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Well good post..The phrase gun control refers to efforts to restrict or limit the possession ...Gun control laws restrict the purchase or ownership of guns, even though guns are typically acquired for defensive or sporting purposes. ...I agree that though gun ownership cannot be forbidden any longer, it can be regulated, as Becker emphasizes.

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Those topics are simply talk because they are considered acceptable culturally and unassailable in argument. When people know you're comfortable with gun ownership, the real reason people purchased guns becomes apparent: they're cool, some are signs of status, they're fun to shoot, etc.

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