Since the tragedy at UCC only a month ago, there have been several articles written and several politicians saying that this proves that we need tighter gun control and stricter gun-free zones, so that a similar event will not happen again. It is already illegal to shoot someone unless out of self-defense. Those who break these laws are not likely to obey new stricter laws. Simply posting a sign saying “Gun-free Zone” will not make them turn around and go home. That is a ridiculous notion. Wayne LaPierre, the N.R.A.’s executive vice-president, is quoted as saying: “The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.”

Just imagine what Chris Mintz, a trained army veteran, could have done if he had a gun tucked in his backpack on October 1st. Nine lives were lost that day. Nine lives that could have been saved.

People who advocate for tighter gun control say that more guns create more violence. The facts and the numbers point otherwise. According to Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy’s article “Would Banning Firearms Reduce Murder and Suicide?”, the evidence shows that on average, the more guns per capita the fewer violent crimes committed. That same article also points out that “The Middle Ages were a time of notoriously brutal and endemic warfare. They also experienced rates of…murder almost double the highest recorded U.S. murder rate. But Middle Age homicide ‘cannot be explained in terms of the availability of firearms, which had not yet been invented.’ ….If it is true that more guns equal more murder and fewer guns equal less death, murder should have risen with the invention, increased efficiency, and greater availability of firearms across the population.” Additionally, the article “The U.S. Has More Guns, But Russia Has More Murders” by Corey Flintoff, shows that Russia has some of the tightest gun laws in the entire world, and has only 9 guns per 100 people in circulation. The United States has close to 100 guns per 100 people. Yet in 2009, Russia had 21,603 murders while the United States had 13,636 murders during the same year. These numbers are even more drastic when the population is considered, since the population of the United States is nearly three times that of Russia.

Guns are not the only means by which a person can kill. Stabbings and beatings occur regularly, but no one is suggesting that we start implementing knife control laws or disband wrestling and boxing teams. In 1995, a bombing in Oklahoma City killed 168 people and did 652 million dollars in damage. That bomb was made primarily out of fertilizer. On 9/11 almost 3,000 people were killed with four airplanes. Evil people will find a way to cause damage and kill others, with or without guns. People should have the right to protect themselves without increased government interference.