Firearm Ownership and Use

**This is a blog is based on fact AND opinion**

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Should the United States put more restrictions on gun ownership and use?

The actual law that protects the right to gun ownership is the well known second amendment. Officially written as 

“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” 

in the official United States constitutions. According to the law it is perfectly legal to own a gun, or to bear arms. However, the right to bear arms does not simply imply that anyone can or should buy a firearm. The process to obtain a firearms license, as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives website explains, does involve ensuring those who are attempting to buy the arm will not act as a danger. This process includes two parts: a background check and an interview. Both act together to ensure that whomever is applying for the license is mentally able and not at risk. This is the process that prevents those who might from committing violent crimes. Still, while background checks exist they do not negate the problem entirely.

What has to be remembered is that this is the legal method of obtaining arms, illegal arms trade exists. If one truly wants to, they likely can buy an illegal arm and are likely to cause harm with it. This is the reason, in today's world now more than ever, the right to bear arms is essential to ones safety. The second amendment is not the right to carelessly wave a weapon around, but rather the right to protection and to safety. What has to be remembered is that this amendment has saved lives, and it is important to realize all the facts, not solely the negative.

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This is not pure speculation, but proven by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has released results supporting this claim. In 2024  a report was released by the FBI to the Uniform Crime Reporting with data from 95.6% of the United States Population. The report stated that a violent crime was committed every 25.9 seconds and a murder every 31.1 minutes. Out of all the weapons recovered from crimes, as a study published in 2024 from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives explains, 58% of them were committed with a weapon not owned by the assailant. One of the most frequent reasons an assailant's gun could not be traced to a buyer was because of an invalid Federal Firearms License acquisition and disposition record (FFL’s A&D), i.e the firearm was obtained illegally. This means the assailant likely was not eligible to own a weapon, thus obtaining it through illegal means. 

The fact that so many of these weapons were obtained illegally directly proves the point that firearms are not the issue, but the real issue lies in the hands of firearm trafficking. While it is true that if firearms are the issue, illegalizing will not stop the already existing illegal firearm trafficking. By regulating and restricting firearm use and gun ownership no one is affected but those deciding to legally buy weapons. Rather than focusing on firearms as a whole, the actual issue of trafficking must be attended to.

Citations:

“FBI Releases 2024 Reported Crimes in the Nation Statistics.” Federal Bureau of Investigation, 5 August 2025, https://www.fbi.gov/news/press-releases/fbi-releases-2024-reported-crimes-in-the-nation-statistic

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“Second Amendment  Right to Bear Arms.” Constitution Annotated, 27 September 2025, https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/amendment-2/.

“Crime Guns Recovered and Traced Within the United States and Its Territories.” Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, 27 March 2025, https://www.atf.gov/firearms/docs/report/nfcta-volume-ii-part-iii-crime-guns-recovered-and-traced-us/download.

“Apply for a License”, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, 27 September 2025, https://www.atf.gov/firearms/apply-license.