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Every time there's a shooting in the news, right-wing pundits and politicians dust off their talking points to explain why the latest gun tragedy doesn't mean the U.S. should tighten up access to deadly firearms.

Well, guys, I hate to break it to you, but we heard you the first time. And the second time. And the hundreds of times since that our country has grappled with an individual eager to take out as many lives as possible with a firearm. We can recite your arguments in our sleep, and they haven't grown better through repetition.

1. "Guns don't kill people. People kill people."
This is a fantastic argument for those who can't tell the difference between one death and a dozen. Absolutely, a murderer can often kill one person or two with a knife before being stopped. But to really rack up those mind-blowing death counts - to make sure that many lives are destroyed and families ruined in the space of five or 10 minutes - you need a gun. If all you care about is apportioning blame and declaring that someone does or does not have murderous intent, then by all means, claim a knife and a gun are equivalent weapons. For those of us who are more worried about preventing unnecessary deaths than merely acknowledging the hate that resides in some people's hearts, however, the sheer amount of damage a gun can do is reason to limit who can get their hands on one.

2. "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun."
If you prefer pithy sayings to hard evidence, I can see why this would be convincing. But if you look at the real world, you'll find that far from being our only hope, good guys with guns are barely any help at all. No mass shootings in the past 30 years have been stopped by an armed civilian; in 1982, an armed civilian successfully killed a shooter, but it was only after he committed his crime.

It's not that there aren't enough guns, either. There are as many guns as people in this country, and fully a third of people are armed. Even when shootings happen in gun-happy places, where armed people are sure to be nearby, this vigilante scenario simply doesn't work. That's because pulling a gun out and shooting back in the chaos of a mass shooting just makes things worse, as was discovered when a would-be hero at the 2011 shooting of Gabby Giffords very nearly shot the wrong man. (The actual shooter was tackled by an elderly man.)

3. "But, mental health!"
Opponents of gun control love bringing up the problem of inadequate mental health care after a shooting. This is strictly for deflection purposes, as there is no indication that Republicans will ever work on meaningful reform for our mental health systems - which, it's true are woefully inadequate. It's an issue that only matters to them in the immediate aftermath of a shooting - then it's forgotten, until there's another shooting. Rinse, repeat.

Also, the "mental health" gambit, in this context, is always vague. What exactly is the plan? Round up everyone with a mental health issue and put them under lock and key? That amounts to 1 in 5 Americans, the vast majority of whom have no violent tendencies. Will we have some kind of extensive mental health registry? A lot of Americans who struggle with mental health are undiagnosed, though, and putting them on a government list that restricts their rights is not a great inducement to get a diagnosis. There are a lot of shooters in this country, so we have some pretty good data on mass shooters. And that data shows there's no reliable way to tell who is going to go off like this, and only 23 percent of shooters have a diagnosis. Even if all of those individuals got gold-star treatment, the system would only stop a few shooters.

4. "Second Amendment, baby."
Here's a good time to remind everyone that the Second Amendment was written by slaveholders before we had electricity, much less the kind of weaponry that would-be murderers can buy today. But sure, if you think it's that precious, we can compromise: If you love the Second Amendment that much, feel free to live in a powdered wig and shit in a chamberpot while trying to survive off what you can kill with an 18th century musket. In exchange, let those of us living in this century pass some laws so we can feel safe going to class, or the movies, or anywhere without worrying that some maladjusted man will try to get his revenge by raining death on random strangers.
A version of this story was originally published on October 1st, 2015

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4 Pro-Gun Arguments We're Sick of Hearing

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Every time there's a shooting in the news, right-wing pundits and politicians dust off their talking points to explain why the latest gun tragedy doesn't mean the U.S. should tighten up access to deadly firearms. Well, guys, I hate to break it to you, but we heard you the first time.

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EPIC: Crowder Destroys Gun Control in 54 Seconds!! | Louder With Crowder

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Ben Shapiro and Piers Morgan on guns (2013)

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points out facts about how guns have reduced crime all together for decades.  The heritage foundation has been a trusted source for a long time. This talks about how most conflicts with guns are just suicides and illegal ownership. Guns are also used more lawfully than not.

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Here Are 8 Stubborn Facts on Gun Violence in America

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In the wake of the tragic murder of 17 innocent students and teachers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, students, educators, politicians, and activists are searching for solutions to prevent future school shootings. As emotions morph from grief to anger to resolve, it is vitally important to supply facts so that policymakers and professionals can fashion solutions based on objective data rather than well-intended but misguided emotional fixes.

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The Daily Wire is a trusted source and has never had problems with fake facts.  This article also came out in 2018.  this makes this article very accurate.  this article shows why we need guns in this country and why they are going to stay.

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In the wake of the Parkland, Florida high school mass shooting, mainstream media outlets and Democratic politicians have been working overtime to push for a crackdown on Second Amendment rights. CNN, for example, held a "town hall" event wherein teenagers who attend the targeted high school were used as props to paint Second Amendment advocates and Republican politicians as callous and willing to turn a blind eye to the murder of schoolkids.

But the reality is, stripping law-abiding citizens of their Second Amendment rights and constructing anti-gun legislation has not worked. Here are six facts that show why gun control measures advocated by the Left are not the answer.
1. Over 98% of mass shootings happen in "gun free zones."
According to the Crime Prevention Research Center, so-called "gun free zones" have been targets of more than 98% of all mass shootings - this is why they are often fittingly referred to as "soft targets."

"According to the Crime Prevention Research Center, only a little more than 1 percent of mass public shootings since 1950 have occurred in places that were not considered to be a gun-free zone. In fact, as Crime Prevention Research Center President John Lott Jr. noted in October 2015, only two mass shootings in the U.S. since 1950 have occurred in an area where citizens were not prohibited from carrying a gun," reports The Blaze.

Former Vice President Joe Biden introduced the Gun-Free School Zones Act (GFSZA) to the U.S. Senate in 1990 and it was signed into law by President George H.W. Bush.
2. Gun ownership does not correlate with a higher homicide rate.
More guns do not equate to a higher homicide rate, despite what the Left purports. In comparison to countries like Russia, Venezuela, and Mexico, the United States has an exceedingly higher number of guns per capita, yet a lower homicide rate.

And take the Swiss, for example. The nation of about 8 million is armed to the bone, with an estimated 2 million guns in circulation while boasting limited gun legislation. Demonstrating that gun ownership does not correlate with the homicide rate, Switzerland saw less that 120 homicides committed with a gun, per government data, as noted by USA TODAY. They also boast a low crime rate.

Additionally, data analysis from John R. Lott, Jr., in his aptly titled book " More Guns, Less Crime," has revealed that more guns can equate to less crime.
3. Gun bans are ineffective - yes, even the much-touted "gun buyback" program in Australia.
According to a Center for Disease Control (CDC) report, " Priorities for Research to Reduce the Threat of Firearm-Related Violence," gun turn-in programs are "ineffective":

There is empirical evidence that gun turn in programs are ineffective, as noted in the 2005 NRC study Firearms and Violence: A Critical Review. For example, in 2009, an estimated 310 million guns were available to civilians in the United States (Krouse, 2012), but gun buy-back programs typically recover less than 1,000 guns (NRC, 2005). On the local level, buy-backs may increase awareness of firearm violence. However, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for example, guns recovered in the buy-back were not the same guns as those most often used in homicides and suicides (Kuhn et al., 2002).

Additionally, as noted by The Daily Wire, a British Journal of Criminology study from 2007 and a 2008 University of Melbourne study found that Australia's temporary gun ban did not appear to effect the already declining homicide rate.

"Prior to 1996, there was already a clear downward [trend] in firearm homicides, and this pattern continued after the buyback," wrote Crime Research Prevention Center President John Lott of Australia. "It is hence difficult to link the decline to the buyback."

And after Britain implemented a similar gun ban, they had increased homicides in the following five years, until "Britain beefed up their police force," notes Lott.
4. There's a correlation between higher gun ownership and fewer mass public shootings.
Between 1977 and 1999, "right-to-carry laws reduced both the frequency and the severity of mass public shootings; and to the extent to which mass shootings still occurred, they took place in those tiny areas in the states where permitted concealed handguns were not allowed," found Bill Landes of the University of Chicago and Lott.
5. Defensive gun use is higher than criminal firearm use.
The instances in which guns are used for self-defense far outpaces the criminal use of firearms. The Daily Wire previously reported:

The number of defensive gun uses are higher than the number of criminal firearm uses. There was a range of 500,000 to over 3 million defensive gun uses in 2013, according to research from the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council published by the CDC. That same year, there were 11,208 firearm homicides and 414,562 nonfatal illegal gun uses, according to the CDC and National Justice Institute, respectively. Even when taking the low end of the defensive gun uses, it's clear that there are more defensive gun uses than criminal gun uses by Americans.
6. The government has failed to protect us time and again.
The government has failed us time and again when it comes to potential mass killers. Take this last school shooting in Florida, for example. As noted by Daily Wire Editor-in-Chief Ben Shapiro on Friday, recent reports have confirmed that "the FBI was warned specifically about the Parkland shooter not once, but twice - and did nothing," "the Broward County Sheriff's deputies were called to the home of the Parkland shooter at least 39 times since 2010," the "Sheriff's Office was warned multiple times about the Parkland shooter," and that "an armed officer was present during the shooting and did nothing."

And the FBI has dropped the ball in other recent catastrophes, too:

The Fort Lauderdale airport gunman told the FBI he was being mind controlled by the CIA before the rampage.

The Pulse nightclub shooter was on the terrorist watch list for two years and then taken off the list before he murdered in the name of Islam.

A 2014 report concluded that the FBI failed to act on warning signs over the would-be Boston marathon bombers.

And the list goes on.

How can the answer to government incompetence or malfeasance be to disarm the masses further and to rely even more heavily on the same institutions that have failed us?

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Six Facts That Show Gun Control Is Not The Answer

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In the wake of the Parkland, Florida high school mass shooting, mainstream media outlets and Democratic politicians have been working overtime to push for a crackdown on Second Amendment rights.

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This article gives basic facts on why gun control wouldn't work.  It talks about when Washington D.C put a ban up and worsened the crime rates.  It also talks about when california put up bans.  This also worsened the crime rates.  This talks about how the Australian buy back didn't work.

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these are semi automatic weapons.  gun control supporters call these military grade when the military uses fully automatics

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this is a military grade fully automatic weapon.  people cannot buy these out of stores.

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this just gives facts about guns and  what supporters want. And it shows what pro gun people want to happen. It also gives basic facts like how many people die from guns each year. It also talks about the second amendment and court cases

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On March 9, 2018, Florida governor Rick Scott signed into law the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act, a move that surprised those on all sides of the gun reform debate, as it marked the first gun control legislation passed in that state in decades.

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this gives reasons on why we have to keep guns in the country so we can protect ourselves. It also points out problems in gun control supporters ideas and plans. Talks about how the military uses fully automatics while pedestrians are only able to use semi automatic weapons. Points out that many hunting rifles are more powerful than regular weapons. Many conflicts are ended by shooting the bad guy.

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A Ban on Assault Weapons Would Not Reduce Crime

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Reason #4: So-called "assault weapons" have never been used in more than a small percentage of firearm-related violent crime. The study that Congress required of the federal "assault weapon" and "large" magazine ban of 1994-2004 concluded that "the banned weapons and magazines were never used in more than a modest fraction of all gun murders" even before the ban, and that the law's 10-round limit on new ammunition magazines wasn't a factor in multiple-victim or multiple-wound crimes.

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this is a very common weapon gun owners have.

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Gun control supporters tried to ban pistols in the 1980"s.

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this machine gun is not available to the public. itis only used in the military.