I do not need to give you statistics about gun violence in America. Chances are, you have been bombarded with differing opinions and arguments on a weekly basis for years. No one disagrees gun violence is out of control; the problem arises when discussing how to solve the problem.
Typically, most conservatives advocate for more armed civilians by saying the old line, “The only thing stopping a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” However, one result from more “good guys with guns” conservatives never seems to mention is the increase in dead police offcers.
As reported by Maggie Fox with NBC News, “Officers are three times more likely to be murdered on the job in high gun ownership states [than in] low gun ownership states.”
With more guns in the hands of unchecked individuals, more police officers are threatened when confronting these people. Not surprisingly, “good guys with guns” can quickly become “bad guys with guns” when put in challenging positions.
With more than 300 million guns in America, according to Scott Horsley with NPR, even the most mundane traffic stop has the risk of turning deadly. For officers, there are no “good guys with guns,” there are only potential threats. Even with the best training, police are still human, and when paranoia mixes with human fallacy, the results can be extremely destructive.
From 2014-2015, police officers killed 86 people who were mistaken to be carrying a firearm, according to The Washington Post. Some of the most famous police brutality examples in recent years have occurred as a result of such a mistake.
For example, Tamir Rice was killed in 2014 while holding a pellet gun. Rice’s death sparked national outrage and caused tremendous damage between police and the community.
Today, police brutality is a heated political discussion. Whenever such a debate occurs, conservatives are always there to defend the police force, but the people who advocate for more unregulated guns are the same who say “Blue Lives Matter.” The same people who do nothing to stop unchecked gun violence in America are the same people who want to protect cops.
The people who consider themselves pro-law enforcement and pro-gun do not see the contradictory nature of their beliefs.
No police officer benefits from more guns in the hands of untrained individuals. No one in law enforcement wants more gun violence, and in absolutely no way do more guns help police.
More guns only lead to more dead cops.
David Swedler of the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health said it best to Maggie Fox of NBC News, “If we’re interested in protecting police officers, we need to look at what’s killing them, and what’s killing them is guns.”