Gun Ownership and Violent Crime

I'm sick of people calling for more gun control laws in response to mass shootings. There is simply no correlation between gun ownership, mass shootings and murder rates. I'm also sick of the selective coverage of gun violence. If a bunch of white people in middle America get shot, or if a white person shoots some black people, the media and politicians are all over it; if a black person shoots another black person however, the story is largely ignored.

If heavy gun control universally worked to reduce gun violence then Chicago would be the poster child for the movement. From ID cards required to purchase guns or ammo, to restrictions on the type of guns and magazines allowed, Chicago is one of the most heavily regulated cities in America, and yet someone is shot every 3 hours on average. More gun laws does not necessarily equate to less gun violence.

To Congressmen and Senators who are calling to restrict peoples' ability to purchase firearms as a means to reduce gun violence: disarm your security teams. To President Obama, tell your Secret Service to no longer carry firearms. Set an example for the rest of us. If you are unwilling to disarm yourself, however, don't expect the rest of us to either.

People want easy answers and easy fixes, and politicians love to act like they have easy solutions, but like most things the solution to gun violence is far more complicated than simply punishing legal gun owners.