The Second Amendment guarantees law-abiding Americans the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. But over time, gun control laws have placed limits on that freedom.

Some politicians and gun control proponents argue that these laws are necessary — even at the cost of infringing upon a fundamental American right. But the fact is, gun control doesn’t work the way advocates argue it does.

What is Gun Control?

Gun control is an umbrella term that refers to laws and ordinances that restrict how law-abiding citizens can buy, own, or use firearms. These vary at the federal, state, and local levels.

This means that while the Second Amendment protects your Right to Keep and Bear Arms, there may be different restrictions placed upon that right depending on where you live.

Gun control at the local level ranges widely. For example, in some towns, citizens who are licensed to carry concealed firearms cannot do so in public parks. And in Chicago, it’s unlawful to own most semi-automatic firearms.

Federal gun control legislation like the Gun Control Act of 1968and the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act (1993) created nationwide requirements that make it more difficult to obtain a firearm.

These laws have been in place for decades, and by now, the evidence is crystal clear. Gun control doesn’t work. Some of the key reasons are detailed below.

Criminals Don’t Obey Gun Control Laws

Criminals, by definition, do not obey the law. Gun control laws only affect law-abiding people who go through legal avenues to obtain firearms.

Criminals overwhelmingly obtain their firearms through illegal channels and will never be deterred by state and federal laws. That’s why background checks have virtually no impact on criminals.

A 2016 Obama administration study by the Bureau of Justice Statistics examined how prison inmates obtained the firearms they used during crimes — and the results weren’t surprising. The study found that only about 10.1% obtained their firearms through a retail source.

The vast majority of criminals obtained their firearms through other means, including: [1]

• Illegal underground sales
• Bought, borrowed, traded, or rented from friends or family
• Gifts
• Purchased by another individual for them
• Theft
• From their victims
• From the scene of a crime

Criminals who go through illegal avenues to obtain firearms aren’t going to submit to background checks while doing so. Ultimately, only law-abiding citizens would be impacted by expanded background checks.

Background Checks Aren’t Effective

Even if criminals did submit to background checks, we’ve seen that these checks aren’t effective at stopping those who intend to use guns to commit crimes.

Consider the following scenarios.

A person with no criminal history walks into a store to buy a gun they’ll use to commit a crime. A background check most likely won’t stop them.

A drug addict lies about their addiction on a federal background check form. Although this individual is committing a federal crime, a background check most likely won’t stop them.

A person with serious mental health issues but no history of treatment or institutionalization goes to buy a gun. A background check most likely won’t stop them.

It makes sense then that background checks have no impact on violent crime.